From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=0.7 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_DATE, MSGID_SHORT,REPLYTO_WITHOUT_TO_CC autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!seas.gwu.edu!mfeldman From: mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Michael Feldman) Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Structured editors (was file naming) Message-ID: <2205@sparko.gwu.edu> Date: 4 Oct 90 19:50:32 GMT References: <12863@encore.Encore.COM> Reply-To: mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu () Organization: The George Washington University, Washington D.C. List-Id: In article <12863@encore.Encore.COM> jcallen@encore.Com (Jerry Callen) writes: > >Seriously, I find that I make far fewer errors if I get the "end if" >in at the same time that I type the "if." This kind of automated >assistance is a help, not a hindrance, at least to this one non-novice >person. > Automated _assistance_ is nice, but I want to be allowed to tell my assistant to buzz off if I wish. I don't wannabe a slave to it. See below. Maybe it would help this discussion thread (which I find very interesting) if we established some terminology (there is no standard terminology, so I'll use some ad hoc stuff I've seen): - by a "structure editor" we mean one which refuses to allow you to type an illegal statement or part of one; everything is parsed on the fly and the thing won't proceed till you get it right. The "Pascal Genie" from the CMU comp. sci. department is in this category; the Genie folks swear by it; - by a "template editor" we mean something which gives the _user_ the option to create a template for a given structure with a single keystroke. No parsing is done; it's really just a macro expansion. The Meridian ADI editor is in this category; actually, since this editor is just a version of emacs, we can include the various emacs "modes" in this bucket too. Assuming a compiler front end fast enough to find the _syntax_ (and lexical) errors very rapidly - and Ada compilers are approaching this speed now, I MUCH prefer the second type of editor. It's like so much else: I like neat toys but don't like being compelled to use them. If I choose to crank some garbage into my file - e.g. to create _purposely_ bad programs for classroom use - I don't want the editor to get in the way. If the editor is building a tree as it goes (like the Genie editor) it has no way to accommodate my garbage, so it beeps. On the other hand, a reasonably smart template editor (ADI is a primitive first cut) will give me the means to generate structures without a lot of keyboarding, and correct structures at that. Which Ada-oriented editors, in your experience out there, are in which category? Rational? DEC? Alsys (if it has one)? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prof. Michael Feldman Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science The George Washington University Washington, DC 20052 202-994-5253 mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------------