Re: IDENTIFIERS in Upper Case

[dsmith@clark.net (Doug Smith)]

In article <dewar.859561259@merv>, dewar@merv.cs.nyu.edu (Robert Dewar) wrote:

[snip]
> Note that GNAT does not discriminate, its error circuits work better 9if
> you use a consistent style -- any of the style commonly used, including
> Steve's are fine, but it learns your style from the program, and uses
> this style for both error messages and error recovery (notice the
> upper case ELSE in the error message).

Very nice! I had not noticed what GNAT was doing; since my style was
consistent, GNAT seemed to be using the same style..and I thought is
was because we agreed on what the best style was (how arrogant of me).

Now, with most LSE's handling additional formatting such as bold, italics,
font size, color, etc., what would be a good layout?

I've read the three Tufte books, and suspect there is a superior presentation
style that would convey the most information, efficiently. Earlier messages
mentioned color, and Tufte recommends earth tones (don't worry, that includes
an amazing variety). [see www.amazon.com and search on author]

He also tells us to use the "smallest effective
difference"; For example, if you wish to distinguish between variables
defined locally in a procedure, and variables defined in the package
body within which the procedure is defined, use just enough difference
(say, in shade of blue) to always tell which kind of variable it is.
That way, differences between variabls and procedures
can use a more significant difference, such as blue vs brown.

Also, as we begin integrating graphic presentations with the code:
<http://sw-eng.falls-church.va.us/cgi-bin/webada/file?template=surfada.html&file=/export/user_data/ada_source/dsmith.clark.net/sort.ads>
there are other design principles we will want to address.

I doubt the capitalization style will make the readability
issue for anyone's code, although it may break it.

Doug
<mailto:dsmith@clark.net>