Re: [Q] Tools for Ada Quality and Style

[rlk@rational.com (Bob Kitzberger)]

Robert Dewar (dewar@cs.nyu.edu) wrote:

: However, I must say, I don't like ANY tools that mess with what I type.
: Even tiny ones! If you rely on even tiny tools to clean up your sources,
: it means that you are tolerating at least for a limited time, untidy
: sources, and I think the best path to uniformity is to foster an
: attitude that just can't *stand* to look at code that is not properly
: formatted.

I also can't stand to look at code that is not properly formatted.
HOWEVER, I also think it is a waste of programmer's time to
format text!  Tools solve this problem quickly -- an integreated
editor and pretty printer (of course, that's the approach we
take with Apex, where you can use either the Apex editor or
emacs.  Code is "ugly" while I type it, but only for a matter
of seconds until I hit the "F9" key).  I can live with that brief
moment of ugliness, for at the tap of a key it is all made pretty
and consistent -- MUCH faster than I can do it myself.

I _used to_ care about lining up all procedure parameters just so,
etc.  But that's quibbling about trivia; the important thing is that a
formatting convention be consistent, not that it line things up just
so, IMHO.  Tools ensure that consistency with minimal overhead.

I'm a little surprised, Robert, that you don't prefer the tool
approach.

(in a previous life, I worked on a  project that was
under the gun to get a feature set ready for demonstration
that week.  I had finished a device driver and handed it over
to another engineer who needed to get it working with his
error simulation stuff -- demo the next morning.  I checked
in with him in mid-afternoon, and he didn't have things
working yet -- he was REFORMATTING MY CODE BY HAND).

--
Bob Kitzberger	      Rational Software Corporation       rlk@rational.com
http://www.rational.com http://www.rational.com/pst/products/testmate.html