use Perl

• debugging and maintaining (Score:2)

  by merlyn (47)

  When you consider that a "compiler" is just a "code generator" for machine language, all the same rules apply.

  When we first got compilers, people complained that they couldn't debug, because the debuggers showed only the translated version. And there were times when the compilers generated sub-optimal code, and there was no way to tune or fix the output without breaking the paradigm.

  But now, high-level languages are commonplace. High-level debuggers are commonplace. The resulting machine code is opti

  --
  

  • Randal L. Schwartz
  • Stonehenge
  • Re:debugging and maintaining (Score:2)

    by ziggy (25)

    When you consider that a "compiler" is just a "code generator" for machine language, all the same rules apply.

    When we first got compilers, people complained that they couldn't debug, because the debuggers showed only the translated version. And there were times when the compilers generated sub-optimal code, and there was no way to tune or fix the output without breaking the paradigm.

    I don't think it's the same thing here. In an abstract sense, it is all about the maturity of the tools. But in a pra
• State Machines, math transforms, etc. (Score:1)

  by barries (2159)

  Lately, we've been using code generators to build C (gcc and quircky C compilers for embedded processors) in two areas:

  1. State machines. Using something I call StateML to defined events, actions, states and arcs along with snippets of documentation and snippets of source code for zero, one, or more languages side by side in the same file to generate any and often all of:
     • State diagrams (via GraphViz) in .png or .ps format.
     • HTML text + graphics docs, HTML generated using a TT2 template and graphics from t
  • Re:State Machines, math transforms, etc. (Score:2)

    by ziggy (25)

    Wow.

    Suffice it to say that I'm suffused with the itch to build a better diagramming tool that scales between expressivity (so my firm can communicate designs clearly, both internally and externally) and rigourousness / completeness (so we can reap the rewards of literate programming) while not being so exclusive and prescriptive that it's all or nothing. A pipe dream, but a useful one to persue, I hope. All in my copious spare time.

    Sounds like you're attacking an interesting, yet different problem tha
• Static Typing Considered Busywork (Score:1)

  by chromatic (983)

  Are you suggesting that the popularity of templates in C++ indicates that something's horribly wrong with its typing system? I could be persuaded to agree, especially with the push for genericity in Java. :)

  It's interesting to hear some of the more recent XP ideas about code generators. I think it was Alistair Cockburn's Agile Programming book that suggested the master programmers should write code generators and the rest of us should customize the output as appropriate. (That sounds like a horrible