Source code as
structure rathe than text … bring it on
Jon Udell blogs
about The
Deep Structure of Code. Instead of treating source code as a
boring old text file, treat it as a data structure. Then, you can
render it however you like it. I was captivated by this idea when I
read this 2003 James Gosling
interview about Jackpot.
Gosling explained that treating
programs as structures lets you perform powerful refactorings:
It’s a very different world when a program is an
algebraic structure rather than a bag of characters, when you can
actually do algebra on programs rather than just swizzling characters
around. A lot of things become possible … If you look at any of
the refactoring books, most of those refactoring actions become much
more straightforward, in ways that are fairly deep.
In
addition, he illustrated how views can be flexible:
[O]nce it’s not text, all of a sudden you can
display it in really interesting ways … You can, for example,
turn the square root function into the obvious mathematical notation.
You can turn the identifier theta into the Greek letter theta. You can
turn division into the horizontal bar with numbers stacked. And
we’ve done experiments with wackier things, such as trying to
generate real time flow charts.
Software developers,
we need to eat our own dog food. Through the magic of software,
we’ve allowed end-users to view and manipulate databases in
countless ways. A single corporate database might be viewed and edited
via any number of command-line interfaces, charts, text reports, and
web pages. But how about source code? Just a glorified text editor
will do, mate.
Eclipse and Idea advance the idea somewhat. They
do treat code as structure and are much more powerful on the
refactoring side. Also, plugins are available that manipulate this
structure to render code as UML. But there is so much more to go.
In
terms of manipulation, you should be able to manipulate code like a
GUI — altering the source code text of an attribute performs a
rename refactoring; dragging one class into another makes it
an inner class.
In terms of display, data structures could be
represented visually (and manipulated that way too). For instance, a
multi-dimensional array could be depicted as a filled-in table. This
view would be especially useful during debugging. Lines between words
could be shown to indicate relationships. These views don’t all
have to be on; the point is to make them flexible, in much the same
way as systems for experts in other domains. That’s the magic of
software, and something you can’t do with paper: infinite
representations of the same data; the right combination chosen based
on the user’s disposition and situational needs.
As a
side note, the idea of representing the code in XML is actually a
non-issue. As Jon Udell points out, programmers themselves don’t
have to touch the underlying structure, and Eclipse/Idea are living
proof.
Related...
<
/div>
[
Software As She's
Developed]
Microsoft to Share Windows CE Source
Code
Microsoft to Share Windows CE Source
Code
06/28/2004 02:50 PMThe software giant will include expanded source licensing in Windows
CE 5.0, due out July 9.
Microsoft to Share Source Code With
Governments
Microsoft to Share Source Code With
Governments
09/21/2004 08:41 AM Microsoft Corp. announced this week it is making the programming code
for its Office 2003 software suite available to government agencies
around the globe, a move partly aimed at allowing them to inspect the
product for flaws and security problems. Though Microsoft usually
guards such software coding tightly, the step is an extension of an
initiative the company began in January 2003 giving about 60
governments access to the inner workings of the Windows operating
system. This is the first time the software giant has shared the
source code for Office, which includes the Word text processing, Excel
spreadsheet, and PowerPoint presentation programs.
Microsoft To Share Office Source Code
Microsoft To Share Office Source Code
09/20/2004 08:56 AMMicrosoft to Share Source Code With
Governments (washingtonpost.com)
Microsoft to Share Source Code With
Governments (washingtonpost.com)
09/20/2004 10:50 PMwashingtonpost.com - Microsoft Corp. announced this week it is making
the programming code for its Office 2003 software suite available to
government agencies around the globe, a move partly aimed at allowing
them to inspect the product for flaws and security problems.
Microsoft in talks with Indian govt to
share source code
Microsoft in talks with Indian govt to
share source code
01/22/2004 08:34 AMIn what could be a big strategy to boost its product sales in the
country by tapping the largest buyer, software major Microsoft on
Thursday said it is in discussions with Indian Government to share its
source code.
Microsoft to share Office software
source code with governments (AFP)
Microsoft to share Office software
source code with governments (AFP)
09/20/2004 04:48 AMAFP - Microsoft Corporation said it would share the source code of its
Microsoft Office desktop software with more than 60 governments,
including China and Russia.
Microsoft to share Office software
source code with governments
Microsoft to share Office software
source code with governments
09/20/2004 04:34 AMAFP via Yahoo! Sep 20 2004 8:33AM GMT
Microsoft in talks with Indian Govt to
share source code
Microsoft in talks with Indian Govt to
share source code
01/23/2004 02:25 PMSilicon India Jan 23 2004 7:05PM GMT
Microsoft to share office software
source code with 60 govts
Microsoft to share office software
source code with 60 govts
09/20/2004 06:53 AMManorama Online Sep 20 2004 11:45AM GMT
"Code snippets for implementing tags
with SQL"
"Code snippets for implementing tags
with SQL"
04/11/2005 11:43 PMMicrosoft to share code
Microsoft to share code
09/20/2004 06:53 AMNews24.com Sep 20 2004 11:31AM GMT
Microsoft to Share Code With Governments
Microsoft to Share Code With Governments
09/21/2004 12:56 AMWashington Post Sep 21 2004 3:32AM GMT
Microsoft to share ots Office code
Microsoft to share ots Office code
09/19/2004 05:55 PMIHT Sep 19 2004 9:43PM GMT
Microsoft to Share Passport Code
Microsoft to Share Passport Code
10/11/2002 07:55 AMUPDATE: Microsoft regales an audience at a conference in Denver with
promises to release portions of its digital identity management
Passport code.
Microsoft to share Office code
Microsoft to share Office code
09/20/2004 10:44 AMReuters reports that Microsoft has
announced plans to open up the code to their Office suite. Microsoft
will share the code with 30 world governments, allowing them to
inspect it for “security problems”. The announcement is part of a
wider "Microsoft's Government Security Program" launched
last year, where 30 governments have been
allowed access to the source code of Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows
Server 2003, Windows CE and now Office 2003.
Microsoft’s main competitor in many markets is free software. More
often than not, it's also open source (i.e. anyone can view the
underlying code that makes the programs work). Microsoft programs are
generally closed source and are only opened up to select people, often
with tight restrictions.
To a certain extent, Microsoft has opened up the code to stay
competitive (or ahead of the game) with regard to Open Source
software. Asides from this fact, the problems with security and
inter-operability with Microsoft programs has prompted the move.
Governments often use and need software from a variety of vendors to
work together to ensure efficiency. Microsoft hopes the move will
restore any faith lost in the past few years; recently, the company
has been beaten to some lucrative and high value contracts by Open
Source alternatives.
View:
Read more |
Office Homepage |
MS AnnouncementRead full story...Microsoft to share code with partners
Microsoft to share code with partners
06/28/2004 02:37 PMMicrosoft to Offer Office Source Code
Under Shared Source
Microsoft to Offer Office Source Code
Under Shared Source
09/20/2004 10:45 AMMicrosoft is releasing its Microsoft Office desktop source code to
qualifying international governments and agencies via the company's
Shared Source licensing program.
Microsoft releases source code to open
source community
Microsoft releases source code to open
source community
05/05/2004 04:06 AMAbout a month ago, Microsoft posted some of its source code to
SourceForge. SourceForge is a, if not the, major distribution point
for open source software. Microsoft's code was put there under the
terms of the Common Public License, which allows modification,
addition, redistribution - in short, it allows most of the rights and
privileges that we associate with open source software.
Microsoft set to share Office code with
govts
Microsoft set to share Office code with
govts
09/26/2004 03:14 PMManila Times Sep 26 2004 5:44PM GMT
Microsoft to Share Office Software Code
Microsoft to Share Office Software Code
09/19/2004 07:33 PMLinux Electrons Sep 19 2004 11:17PM GMT
Microsoft to Share Office Software Code
(Reuters)
Microsoft to Share Office Software Code
(Reuters)
09/19/2004 05:48 PMReuters - Microsoft Corp. said on Sunday that it
would share the underlying software code for its Office program
as part of its efforts to make governments more confident in
the security and compatibility of the world's largest software
maker's products.
Sun Shifts Tactics and Will Share Code
of Its Server Software
Sun Shifts Tactics and Will Share Code
of Its Server Software
06/04/2004 11:19 PMNew York Times Jun 5 2004 3:50AM GMT
"Code Access Security (CAS) ? "Guilty
until proven Innocent" (Partially
Trusted Code) "
"Code Access Security (CAS) ? "Guilty
until proven Innocent" (Partially
Trusted Code) "
06/22/2004 04:03 AMOpenBase acquires Code Builder, RB
database code generator
OpenBase acquires Code Builder, RB
database code generator
03/23/2005 12:25 AMCONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE, USA -- March 22, 2005 -- OpenBase
International, Ltd., has acquired Code Builder, developed by Open
Minded Solutions. Code Builder is a database application code
generator for REALbasic, a cross-platform development environment for
MacOS X, Windows and Linux platforms.
Returning Your Available Character Code
Sets And Code Pages Via T-SQL
Returning Your Available Character Code
Sets And Code Pages Via T-SQL
08/18/2004 10:37 AMPsst--want some source code?
Psst--want some source code?
07/14/2004 06:51 PMZDNet Jul 14 2004 11:28PM GMT
What is the true value of source code?
What is the true value of source code?
07/14/2004 11:42 AMIn my last article here on ITMJ, I challenged traditional notions of
the importance of source code access in open source. Most point to
source code availability as the premier benefit open source delivers,
without offering any substantive reasons to support the claim. As I
noted, while open access to source code may matter for some, its
benefits pale in comparison to the benefits associated with open
source distribution. In summary, open source business models yield
dramatically lower sales, marketing, and product distribution costs,
enabling upstart competitors to undercut established vendors on price
while providing their customers Porsche technology at Pinto pricing.
Other News: FWB Source Code
Other News: FWB Source Code
01/26/2004 10:18 AMeBay has an auction of FWB source code for Hard Disk Toolkit and
CD-ROM Toolkit.
A Look at Some Windows Source Code
A Look at Some Windows Source Code
02/13/2004 01:12 PMToday Microsoft admitted that "portions of the Microsoft Windows 2000
and Windows NT 4.0 source code were illegally made available on the
Internet." Through unnamed sources, we here at Blogzilla were provided
with a portion: if (default_browser() != IE60) { dump_mozilla();
set_invalid_host("www.mozilla.org", ALWAYS);
install_ie60(); download_latest_patch(IE60);
apply_security_patch(KB828028);
apply_security_patch(KB832894); ...
apply_security_patch(KB824145);
apply_security_patch(KB813951);...
Source Code Escrow
Source Code Escrow
12/26/2003 02:58 AMSource Code for PeopleAggregator
Source Code for PeopleAggregator
02/10/2004 02:47 AMPro
grammer Notes [devel.peopleaggre
gator.com]
Can be found her
e. Now even YOU can have your very own social network.
Based upon FOAF.
Source Code Mania
Source Code Mania
04/07/2005 01:05 PMfiles come soon /pronto estara para descargar
Daily Source Code
Daily Source Code
08/13/2004 12:26 PMAdam Curry is starting a daily audio post called Daily Source Code, in
MP3.
Office Source Code
Office Source Code
09/21/2004 01:11 AMI’ve been trying to think of something intelligent and new to say
about Microsoft’s recent
Office
source code maneuver, but Simon Phipps
took care of
it. Anyhow, when it comes to Office software, I’m less
interested in its code (source or object) which should be disposable
and replaceable, than I am in its output. Some call them “office
documents”; I prefer “intellectual heritage”, “racial
memory”, “crystallized thought”, “priceless treasure”, that
kind of thing. They need to be taken care of better than they are, I
think, and
others agree.
JS.Scob.Trojan Source Code ...
JS.Scob.Trojan Source Code ...
06/29/2004 12:08 PMK-OTiK Security (Jun 28 2004)
Microsoft Opens Source Code
Microsoft Opens Source Code
06/28/2004 06:08 PMWhen the embedded operating system goes public in July, developers
will be able to do a lot more with the code.
Microsoft Source Code Leaked Over Net
(AP)
Microsoft Source Code Leaked Over Net
(AP)
02/12/2004 11:29 PMAP - Microsoft Corp. said late Thursday that portions of its Windows
source code — the tightly guarded blueprint of its dominant
computer operating system — had been leaked over the Internet.
Grok Description matches for "Code Snippets: Store, sort and share source code, with tag goodness"
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"Code Snippets: Store, sort and share source code, with tag goodness"
