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From: brad@looking.on.ca (Brad Templeton)
Newsgroups: comp.compilers,comp.editors
Subject: Re: structure editors
Message-ID: <4169@ima.ima.isc.com>
Date: 5 Jul 89 03:47:37 GMT
Sender: compilers-sender@ima.ima.isc.com
Reply-To: brad@looking.on.ca (Brad Templeton)
Organization: Looking Glass Software Ltd.
Lines: 25
Approved: compilers@ima.UUCP
In-Reply-To: <4134@ima.ima.isc.com>

I wrote the only structure editor to make a major venture in the commercial
market (Alice Pascal) and from that I learned a couple of things:

	a) You have to mix structure and text.  An incremental parser for
	   expressions is not too bad on the implementation side, and does
	   most of the basic problems.

	b) A few simple transmog operators for the larger structures can
	   do the rest.

	c) True incremental parsing is usually slow unless you really work
	   on it.  Not ok for the PC style machines found in many labs.

	d) Don't try a structure editor to the mass market.  Stick to your
	   niche.
---
Brad Templeton, Looking Glass Software Ltd.  --  Waterloo, Ontario 519/884-7473
[I looked at Alice Pascal when it came out, and although it did what it did
very well, somehow its improvements over conventional development editors
were never compelling enough to make me want to switch.  Oh, well.  -John]
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