Re: [Q] Tools for Ada Quality and Style

[pdmillik@mpx.com.au (Peter Milliken)]

Robert Dewar (dewar@cs.nyu.edu) wrote:
: Bob Crispen was looking for pretty printing tools to enforce a standard.
: 
: I must say I do not like this approach. For uniform style rules to work,
: everyone has to buy into them, and buying into them means getting 
: completely familiar with them and not considering writing code in any
: other style. 
: 
: If you rely on pretty printing tools, then there is a danger of continuing
: to foster a sloppy attitude to the style rules.
: 

: I *do* like tools that enforce style rules, to the extent that this is
: possible. Many style rules are simply too indefinite to enforce
: mechanically.
: 

If I understand you correctly here, it would perhaps be best to use/provide
tools that encourage the chosen style to be easily implemented at the 
point of entry by the programmer rather than providing a 'clean-up' 
utility after the fact. Such a tool is Language Sensistive Editting a la 
DEC's LSE editor. It reduces program entry (largely) to "filling in the 
blanks" ie the program structures are generated automatically (minimal 
keystrokes anyway) by the editor and the programmer basically types in 
the variable names and chooses the appropriate code structures along the 
way. I have used LSE on an Ada project and provided I stuck to using the 
language templates I had no style problems or semantic errors. Please do 
not confuse the method that DEC have chosen for LSE'ing with the 
"primitive" method provide by the Emacs ada-mode, DEC's method is far 
superior and easier to use.

From experience on several projects now I have found that people either 
love true LSE or hate it, it seems to end up being one of those 
"religious" areas that programmers seem to develop about their work 
habits and tools (witness the great editor wars that have been fought over 
the years :-)).


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