Re: [ANN] Lua 5.2.0 (beta-rc1) now available

[Miles Bader <miles@...>]

David Kastrup <dak@gnu.org> writes:
>> I think Knuth-style slice-and-dice literate programming is a
>> thoroughly bad way to add a module system to Pascal, and should not
>> be imitated in other languages.
>
> It is not in the least bit a way to add a module system to Pascal, but
> rather a manner for exposing and documenting the program structure.

I'd quibble a bit and say "programming techniques and algorithms,"
rather than "program structure."  When I hear the latter, I tend to
think of the generally simpler and more regular hierachies and units
of programming-languages, rather than the very free hierachies and
units that often seem to be used in literate programs.

One my favorite textbooks [http://www.pbrt.org] is written using
literate programming.  The result is an absolutely fantastic textbook,
which I think a wonderful job of explaining various algorithms and
techniques -- but I don't think it leaves one with a very strong sense
of how such a program is structured (even though in some sense they do
actually say)...

-Miles

-- 
If you can't beat them, arrange to have them beaten.  [George Carlin]