Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!hplabs!hp-pcd!hpcvca!charles
From: charles@hpcvca.CV.HP.COM (Charles Brown)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: Re: The future of MINIX
Message-ID: <5870011@hpcvca.CV.HP.COM>
Date: 13 Jul 89 18:07:04 GMT
References: <19504@louie.udel.EDU>
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Co., Corvallis, Oregon
Lines: 24

>Let us take a look at an example of what I mean.  If AST's operating system
>book did not use line numbers but allowed one level of indirection, his book
>would not go out of date.  For example on page 243 he references line 5965.
>In another version of MINIX (ie later than 1.1), that line number probably
>does not reference the same C statement.
>
>This problem could be solved properly by inserting the phrase
>"ref-listing x" in the book, and on the first page of the IBM 3-ring
>binder have the following: 
>	ref-listing x = line 5965.

How about inserting comments in the source which you can easily search
for.  So the book can refer to a point in the source with:
	see listing-reference-232
In the source we could find
	if( ... ) { ... } /* listing-reference-232 */

This way the book (and the binder) would not have to become obsolete
because the line numbers changed.
--
	Charles Brown	charles@cv.hp.com or charles%hpcvca@hplabs.hp.com
			or hplabs!hpcvca!charles or "Hey you!"
	Not representing my employer.
	"grep for it"