Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!hao!oddjob!gargoyle!ihnp4!meccts!nis!stag!trb
From: trb@stag.UUCP ( Todd Burkey )
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Small is beautiful
Message-ID: <217@stag.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 25-Sep-87 13:31:33 EDT
Article-I.D.: stag.217
Posted: Fri Sep 25 13:31:33 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 27-Sep-87 10:55:50 EDT
References: <121@quick.COM>
Reply-To: trb@stag.UUCP ( Todd Burkey )
Organization: Mindtools ST Access Group, Plymouth, MN
Lines: 28

In article <121@quick.COM> srg@quick.COM (Spencer Garrett) writes:
>I'd like to start by saying that I'm firmly in Henry Spencer's camp on this
>one.  Performance isn't the only benefit, however.  Smaller programs are
>easier to write, debug, maintain, and (drumroll here) *use*.  I measure
>"small" by economy of concepts more than line or byte counts, though they
>tend to follow.

I couldn't agree more. Having used line editors for years, and then
the various Vax editors, Emacs, VI, and psuedo editors like Apollos'
DM thing (which I am currently using), I finally broke down several
weeks ago and started a spare time project to develop a programmer's
editor. After glancing at the size of the EMACS/uEmacs/Vi source code
and the horrendously ineffecient way data is kept track of, I decided
to start from scratch. And I would be surprised if my code even came
to 2800 lines (even with procedure and code segment snap control and
smart variable lookup)...The key thing in getting to small code is to
think out the project completely before you start and to not get
carried away with gimmicks. For example, I won't have a twiddle
character or line option...if I design cut and paste correctly, then
there will be no need for it. I also don't plan on putting any
limitations on the code for small systems that have limitations of
segments and the like (i.e. it will run on my Atari ST, but I feel it
is silly to butcher the code to make it work around the segment sizes,
limited memory, and slow speed on my IBM PC).

  Also awaiting with my Fire cap on...
    -Todd Burkey
    trb@stag.UUCP