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From: erics@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Eric Schlegel)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: MPW wish list
Keywords: MPW
Message-ID: <19240@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU>
Date: 8 Feb 90 20:40:56 GMT
References: <1990Jan23.065751.29303@peace.waikato.ac.nz> <6310@internal.Apple.COM> <55359@hobbit.UUCP> <1990Jan25.191441.26280@oracle.com> <416@dbase.A-T.COM>
Sender: news@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Lines: 27

>In article <1990Jan25.191441.26280@oracle.com> omullarn@oracle.com (Oliver Mullarney) writes:
>>- Incremental linking would be nice. Waiting 15 minutes to relink after
>>  a change of one object file is very boring.
>


Even better - incremental compilation. Forget to put a semicolon after one
line in your 2000 line MacApp include file? No problem. The compiler recompiles
_only that one line_ instead of compiling the entire program.

This can be done, but it requires a significant amount of compiler rewrite.
The basic idea is for the compiler to keep a record of all variable, type,
function declarations, etc, where lines begin and end in the file, and what
variables/functions are referenced by each statement in the program. Then
by determining which source lines changed, you determine which references
may have changed (sort of like recalcing a spreadsheet) and only recompile
the affected lines.

I read any article about a year ago saying that the MPW team was looking into
incremental compilation. I've no idea if anything's coming, but it sure 
would be nice.

-eric

--
Eric Schlegel '90             |   "Never underestimate the bandwidth of a
eric.schlegel@dartmouth.edu   |    station wagon full of tapes."