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From: | Ralf Hemmecke |
Subject: | Re: [Axiom-developer] Re: noweb |
Date: | Thu, 04 May 2006 09:36:57 +0200 |
User-agent: | Thunderbird 1.5.0.2 (X11/20060420) |
[Norman Ramsey's awk script...]
Really, this script is not so hard to understand is it?yes, it is. really. it just reads as line noise to me. for example, the variable 'uses' is not defined anywhere. nor is 'defns'. what exactly is it trying to iterate over and where does the data come from? this is all probably apparent to a sed/awk/shell programmer but the point of literate programming is to make it apparent to those people who need to maintain it. if i can't understand it without learning 3 new languages then the next person who needs to maintain it might not understand it either.
Even if I think that we actually don't need the awk script, I very much agree with Tim in the sense that code pieces should be explained in such a way that also people that have no or little experience in that particular language have a chance to understand the code. Yes, it also means to explain, why it is not necessary to initialize/declare 'uses' and 'defn' before using these variables.
For me, literate programming also means: make it easier for people who come after you.
Ralf
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