| Re: Include diagramming in your compiler, interpreter, debugger or editor! [message #5474] |
Mon, 11 December 1995 00:00 |
sg928ah5
Messages: 1
Registered: December 1995
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Junior Member |
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Mitchell R Grunes (grunes@news.nrl.navy.mil) wrote:
: Include diagramming in your compiler, interpreter, debugger or editor!
: The diagramming programs just posted to alt.sources, and to the C,
: Fortran, IDL and PV-WAVE news groups create diagrams along the lines
: of
: +---------------- subroutine a(x) | 1
: |+--------------- do i=1,5 | 2
: || x=x*i | 3
: |+--------------- enddo | 4
: +---------------- end | 5
: which make it easier to understand source code listings by drawing
: lines next to blocks of code to indicate the start and end of programs
: and statement blocks, and by printing a "*" next to jump statements.
: (If you have a PC, they can also draw line graphics).
: Such things are especially useful when examining other people's code,
: or with the very very elaborate code developed by many people over a
: period of decades.
: Actually it would be far more useful if diagramming were incorporated
: into other tools:
: 1. Compilers could add diagramming lines to their source code listings.
: Since compilers have a full fledged language parser, they are less
: easily fooled by things like variable names that match keywords,
: pathological spacing, etc. And it would help people figure out
: incorrect nesting.
: 2. Likewise for interpreters.
: 3. Interactive debuggers might also diagram the code they are displaying,
: to help the user execute the code trhough a current block.
: 4. Editors designed to edit a particular language could help the
: programmer by drawing such lines too.
: I hope people who design such tools will consider including diagramming.
: It would make them easier to use and more "user-friendly".
: Thanks for your consideration.
: ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------
: Mitchell R Grunes, grunes@nrlvax.nrl.navy.mil. Opinions are mine alone.
Nice ideas! Did you think about send the above message to Absoft, Lehigh
and Microsoft?
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