Re: Editing/storing syntax trees

preston@tera.com (Preston Briggs) wrote:


> > ... Wouldn't it be so much easier to store your source as a syntax-tree ?
> >
> >In theory I agree, ...
>
> I disagree. ASCII source is actually a fine representation, small and
> convenient. Syntax trees, on disk, are bulky and inconvenient.


ASCII is a terrible representation, because it has to be reparsed on
every reading.


The 'bulk' problem has now been solved with new compress/decompress-on-the-fly
disk drivers, which are highly optimized for compression, and the newer
HW will have specialized high performance chips for doing this that
I expect will significantly outperform any parsing routines.


> If you want general access to a syntax tree, say for use by several
> different tools, write a single scanner-parser combination that builds
> a tree form from the source form; but please don't multiply your editors.


Yes, this is usually called 'Lisp'. :-)


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