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Archive-name: literate-programming-faq
Last-modified: 2000/03/15
Version: 1.3.1

The Literate Programming FAQ
 David B. Thompson <[email protected]>
 Version: 1.3.1, Mar 15, 2000

 The purpose of this document is two-fold: First, there is a need to
 present a basic description of literate programming and how applica-
 tion of literate programming principles can improve the resulting
 code.  Second, there is a need to present a list of tools available
to
 iterate programmers.  Hopefully, this document will meet both needs.
 ____________________________________________________________________
__

 Table of Contents






















































 1. Welcome

    1.1 Disclaimer
    1.2 Copyright
    1.3 What's New?
    1.4 What's Needed?

 2. Introduction

 3. How do I get the FAQ?

    3.1 Literate Programming FAQ

 4. Is there a newsgroup?

 5. What internet nodes are of interest to literate programmers?

    5.1 Web Ring
    5.2 The Literate Programming Archive (LPA)
    5.3 Comprehensive TeX Archive Network (CTAN)

 6. What is Literate Programming?

 7. How do I begin literate programming?

 8. Important and Actively-Supported Tools

    8.1 CWEB
    8.2 CWEBx3.0
    8.3 FWEB
    8.4 noweb
    8.5 nuweb
    8.6 ProTeX

 9. Unsupported Tools

    9.1 AFTWEB (Almost Free Text WEB)
    9.2 APLWEB
    9.3 CLiP
    9.4 mCWEB
    9.5 FunnelWeb
    9.6 FunnelWeb 3.0AC
    9.7 LEO
    9.8 Literate Programmer's Workshop (LPW)
    9.9 MapleWEB
    9.10 Matlabweb
    9.11 RWEB
    9.12 SchemeWEB
    9.13 SpideryWEB
    9.14 WEB
    9.15 WinWordWEB

 10. Are there other tools I should know about?

    10.1 C2LaTeX
    10.2 c2cweb
    10.3 c2man
    10.4 cnoweb
    10.5 dpp
    10.6 Fold2Web
    10.7 Funnelweb Mode
    10.8 noweb.el
    10.9 noweb-outline.el
    10.10 nuweb.el
    10.11 Web mode

 11. What other resources are available?

    11.1 TeX Resources

 12. Are there any code examples?

 13. Bibliographies

 14. Other Opinions about Literate Programming

    14.1 van Ammers
    14.2 Ramsey
    14.3 My (Dave Thompson's) Experience
    14.4 Others

 15. How to anonymously ftp

 16. Acknowledgements

 17. End notes



 ____________________________________________________________________
__

 1.  Welcome

 Information contained in this document is the best available at
 preparation.  The original file was dated October 15, 1993 (just for
 historical purposes).


 1.1.  Disclaimer

 This FAQ is presented with no warranties or guarantees of ANY KIND
 including correctness or fitness for any particular purpose.  The
 author of this document has attempted to verify correctness of the
 data contained herein; however, slip-ups can and do happen.  If you
 use this data, you do so at your own risk.


 1.2.  Copyright

 Copyright 1993-2000 by David B. Thompson.  All rights reserved
 worldwide. Permission is granted to copy this document for free
 distribution so long as it remains intact and unmodified.  For other
 arrangements, contact the author/maintainer via email:
 <[email protected]>



 1.3.  What's New?


 o  Updated dpp entry.  See Section ``dpp''

 o  Added noweb-outline.el entry.  See section ``noweb-outline.el''


 1.4.  What's Needed?


 o  I've checked some of the links to software.  If anyone finds the
    FAQ useful, please let me know if the links are active or dead
when
    you're surfing.

 o  Some authors have disappeared.  If you know one of them, or are
an
    author (and wish to remain in contact ;), then please provide
    current contact information.

 o  I could use some feedback on the state of the FAQ.  It's about as
    complete as I know how to make it.



 2.  Introduction

 Literate programming is a phrase coined by Donald Knuth to describe
 the approach of developing computer programs from the perspective
of a
 report or prose.  The focus, then, is on description (and
 documentation) of the approach in human-readable form. This is in
 contrast to the normal approach of focusing on the code.

 This document is for new and experienced users of literate
programming
 tools.  The purpose is to explain the concept of literate
programming
 and to provide a resource for locating resources of interest to
 literate programmers and those interested in literate programming.

 The Literate Programming (LitProg) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
 list is maintained by Dave Thompson <[email protected]>.

 Comments and constructive criticisms are welcome.  Direct flames to
 /dev/null (or nul if you're a msdos user! ;-) If you find an error,
 please report it.  I'm particularly interested in establishing the
 locations of generally available literate programming tools.  If you
 are the author of such a tool and wish to have it included in this
 list, please send email.

 Please note this is a work-in-progress.  It is not complete, and
 probably will never be complete.  Nevertheless, the information
 contained herein may be useful to some.  Use it as it is intended.



 3.  How do I get the FAQ?

 3.1.  Literate Programming FAQ

 You have many ways to get a current copy of this FAQ.  One is to use
 anonymous ftp (if you don't know how, see a later section in this
FAQ)
 to connect to one of the ``Comprehensive TeX Arvchive Network''
sites
 or the Literate Programming Archive and retrieve a copy of the file.
 Open an ftp connection to one of the CTAN sites and retrieve the
file
 help/comp.programming.literate_FAQ.

 Cesar Bellardini [email protected] prepared a translation of
the
 FAQ into Spanish.  It's available at

 (For more information on CTAN and the literate programming archive,
 see the section below entitled ``Internet Nodes of Interest to
 Literate Programmers''.)



 4.  Is there a newsgroup?

 One of the most important resources is the literate programming
 newsgroup, comp.programming.literate.  Because of the amount of
 spamming and unrelated posts, the newsgroup is now moderated.  You
can
 read this newsgroup using your standard reader.


 5.  What internet nodes are of interest to literate programmers?

 The principal nodes of interest to literate programmers are the
 Literate Programming Archive (LPA hereafter) and the CTAN
 (Comprehensive TeX Archive Network).



 5.1.  Web Ring


 There is a web ring for literate programming.  It is at the URL
 www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=litprog;list



 5.2.  The Literate Programming Archive (LPA)

 The Literate Programming Archive (LPA) is:

 o  Node: ftp.th-darmstadt.de [130.83.55.75]

 o  Directory: /pub/programming/literate-programming

 o  Notes: Fastest response during off-U.S.  [yep] business hours.

 However, the LPA seems to be defunct in that no files are available
in
 the /pub directory.  If anyone knows anything about the status of
the
 LPA, please send email.



 5.3.  Comprehensive TeX Archive Network (CTAN)

 Participating hosts in the Comprehensive TeX Archive Network are
(from
 the file CTAN.sites):

 o  ftp.dante.de (Mainz, Germany)

 o  anonymous ftp /tex-archive (/pub/tex /pub/archive)

 o  Gopher: gopher.dante.de

 o  e-mail [email protected]

 o  WWW www.tex.ac.uk

 o  Administrator: <[email protected]>

 o  ftp.tex.ac.uk (Cambridge, UK)

 o  anonymous ftp /tex-archive (/pub/tex /pub/archive)

 o  Gopher: gopher.tex.ac.uk

 o  NFS mountable from nfs.tex.ac.uk:/public/ctan/tex-archive

 o  WWW www.tex.ac.uk

 o  Administrator: <[email protected]>

 o  ctan.tug.org (Boston, Massachusetts, USA)

 o  anonymous ftp /tex-archive (/pub/archive)


 o  WWW ctan.tug.org

 o  Administrator: <[email protected]>

 The pointer, ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/tex/ctan/CTAN.sites, is
directed
 to the official list of CTAN archive sites and their mirrors.



 6.  What is Literate Programming?

 Literate programming is the combination of documentation and source
 together in a fashion suited for reading by human beings.  In fact,
 literate programs should be enjoyable reading, even inviting!
(Sorry
 Bob, I couldn't resist!)  In general, literate programs combine
source
 and documentation in a single file.  Literate programming tools then
 parse the file to produce either readable documentation or
compilable
 source.  The WEB style of literate programming was created by D.E.
 Knuth during the development of his TeX typsetting software.

 All the original work revolves around a particular literate
 programming tool called WEB.  Knuth says:

      The philosophy behind WEB is that an experienced system pro-
      grammer, who wants to provide the best possible documenta-
      tion of his or her software products, needs two things
      simultaneously: a language like TeX for formatting, and a
      language like C for programming.  Neither type of language
      can provide the best documentation by itself; but when both
      are appropriately combined, we obtain a system that is much
      more useful than either language separately.



      The structure of a software program may be thought of as a
      web that is made up of many interconnected pieces.  To docu-
      ment such a program we want to explain each individual part
      of the web and how it relates to its neighbours. The typo-
      graphic tools provided by TeX give us an opportunity to
      explain the local structure of each part by making that
      structure visible, and the programming tools provided by
      languages such as C or Fortran make it possible for us to
      specify the algorithms formally and unambigously. By combin-
      ing the two, we can develop a style of programming that max-
      imizes our ability to perceive the structure of a complex
      piece of software, and at the same time the documented pro-
      grams can be mechanically translated into a working software
      system that matches the documentation.


 See Section ``Other Opinions'' for some additional thoughts on
 literate programming.



 7.  How do I begin literate programming?

 I've given considerable thought as to what should be in this section
 of the FAQ.  This is probably the most important section of this
 document.  My suggestion is that you review Section ``Supported
 Tools'' and Section ``Unsupported Tools'' to choose a system
 appropriate for the kind of development you do.  Then, use the
manual
 that accompanies the system to determine how it complements your
 development style.


 Both Eric van Ammers, Section ``van Ammers'', and Norman Ramsey,
 Section ``Ramsey'', wrote some thoughts on literate programming.
I've
 included these thoughts in Section ``Other Opinions'' below.

 I started with a pretty-printing tool, Section ``cnoweb'', as a test
 of the utility of interweaving significant documentation with code.
 My experience is detailed in Section ``Thompson''.

 Wayne Sewell's (1989) Weaving a Program: Literate Programming in
WEB.
 Van Nostrand Reinhold, ISBN 0-442-31946-0 (pbk).   This book focuses
 on using Knuth's web system.

 I've read D. E. Knuth's collection of articles (1992) entitled
 Literate Programming. Center for the Study of Language and
 Information, Stanford University, ISBN 0-937073-80-6 (pbk).  This
book
 gives insight into Knuth's thoughts as he developed the web system
of
 literate programming (and TeX for typesetting).  However, it does
not
 document methods for literate programming.

 Some talk exists in the newsgroup/mailing list for a Usenet
University
 course in literate programming.  I'm sure discussion of this topic
 will be welcomed.  (1Feb2000: Note this thread has been dead for a
 long, long time.  I wish someone would pick it up.)



 8.  Important and Actively-Supported Tools

 I have selected a few of the tools from my list that appear to be
most
 actively supported.  Inclusion here does not imply endorsement;
 exclusion does not imply lack of quality.


 8.1.  CWEB


    Developer:
       Silvio Levy and D.E. Knuth

    Version:
       3.5

    Hardware:
       Unix systems (dos and amiga ports available)

    Languages:
       C and C++

    Formatter:
       Plain TeX and LaTeX.

    Availability:
       Anonymous ftp from:

    o  ftp://labrea.stanford.edu:/pub/cweb

    o  LPA:/c.c++

    o  CTAN:/web/c_cpp/cweb

    o  DOS version is no longer available.

    o  Win32 version www.literateprogramming.com

    o  Amiga version from Aminet:dev/c.

    o  Mac port of CTANGLE in LPA:/machines/mac

    o  LaTeX support in LPA:/c.c++

    Readme:
       Bundled with above

    Description:
       No description provided.

    Support:
       Bugs to <[email protected]>


 8.2.  CWEBx3.0


    Developer:
       Marc van Leeuwen

    Version:
       3.04

    Hardware:
       Any system using ASCII code

    Languages:
       ANSI C

    Formatter:
       Plain TeX

    Availability:
       Anonymous ftp from:

    o  wwwmathlabo.univ-poitiers.fr/~maavl/CWEBx/

    Readme:
       Bundled with above

    Brief description:
       A modified implementation of CWEB, with some extensions.
       Provides a mode for full compatibility with Levy/Knuth CWEB.
The
       most significant extras are:

    o  Typedef declarations affect formatting througout source file

    o  Include files are scanned for typedef definitions

    o  Flexible selection of layout style

    o  Possibility to refer to sections using symbolic labels

    o  CTANGLE detects unbalanced braces and parentheses

    o  CWEAVE can be made to report syntax errors more easily

    o  Some additional mechanisms to avoid formatting problems

    o  New and modular set of grammar rules, based on ANSI C syntax

    o  Possibility to suppress #line directives

    o  A new manual


    Support:
       bugs and remarks to [email protected]


 8.3.  FWEB


    Developer:
       John A. Krommes

    Version:
       1.62

    Hardware:
       Unix, VMS, and DOS platforms (anything with ANSI C)

    Languages:
       C, C++, Fortran-77, Fortran-90, Ratfor, TeX; also, a anguage-
       independent mode.

    Formatter:
       LaTeX.  Plain TeX may work, but is no longer supported.

    Availability:
       Anonymous ftp from:

    o  ftp.pppl.gov/pub/fweb

    o  CTAN:/web/fweb

    o  msdos version on ftp.ppl.gov site

    Readme:
       In bundle with above.

    Description:
       It also has a well-developed user's manual and its own FAQ
(see
       above).  Beginning with 1.40, documentation is maintained in
gnu
       texinfo format.  It runs on most platforms: VMS, PC, UNIX, and
       pretty much anything that the GNU C compiler (GCC) is
supported
       for.

    Features:

    o  Processes multiple languages during a single run (so one can
mix
       C and Fortran, for example).

    o  Language-independent mode (v1.40).

    o  Ability to turn off pretty-printing (v1.40).

    o  Built-in Ratfor translator.

    o  Built-in macro preprocessor (closely follows ANSI C, with
       extensions).

    o  A style file that allows the user to adjust many parameters
and
       behavior patterns of FWEB.

    o  Various operator-overloading features that provide additional
       pretty-printing capabilities to languages such as C++ and
       Fortran-90.

    o  Numerous miscellaneous features and command-line options.


    Support:
       Bug reports and suggestions to [email protected] Online
       documentation is available at
       w3.pppl.gov/%7ekrommes/fweb_toc.html


 8.4.  noweb


    Developer:
       Norman Ramsey <[email protected]>

    Version:
       2.9a

    Hardware:
       Unix and DOS platforms (DOS binaries available for v2.7).

    Languages:
       All programming languages, singly or in combination.
Automatic
       indexing for C, Icon, Pascal, Standard ML, TeX, Yacc

    Formatter:
       Plain TeX, LaTeX, and HTML formatters.  Will convert LaTeX to
       HTML automatically.

    Availability:
       Anonymous ftp from:

    o  CTAN:/web/noweb

    o  LPA:/independent

    o  Last recourse, use ftp.cs.virginia.edu:pub/nr

    Readme:
       With bundle above, or see the noweb home page:
       www.eecs.harvard.edu/~nr/noweb Those without http access can
       consult ``Literate Programming Simplified,'' IEEE Software,
       September 1994, pp97-105, or ``Literate Programming Using
       Noweb,'' Linux Journal, October 1997, pp64-69.


    Description:
       Noweb is designed to meet the needs of literate programmers
       while retaining the simplest possible input format.  Its
primary
       advantages are simplicity, extensibility, and language-
       independence.  Noweb uses 5 control sequences to WEB's 27.
The
       noweb manual is only 3 pages; an additional page explains how
to
       customize its LaTeX output.  Noweb works ``out of the box''
with
       any programming language, and supports TeX, latex, and HTML
back
       ends.  A back end to support full hypertext or indexing takes
       about 250 lines; a simpler one can be written in 40 lines of
       awk. Unlike WEB, Noweb does not have prettyprinting built in,
       but there are several third-party extensions that provide
       prettyprinting, includeing dpp, pretzel, and nwpp.


       Noweb supports indexing and identifier cross-reference,
       including hypertext ``hot links.'' noweb includes a simple,
       efficient LaTeX-to-HTML converter, so you can use hypertext
       browsers on your legacy documents.  Noweb can also process
nuweb
       programs, so you can use noweb to convert a standard nuweb
       program to HTML with one command.


    Support:
       email to the author


 8.5.  nuweb


    Developer:
       Preston Briggs: <[email protected]>

    Version:
       0.87

    Hardware:
       Unix systems: Sparcs, RS/6000s, HPs; (!) MSDOS and Amiga.

    Languages:
       Any programming language or combination of programming
       languages.

    Formatter:
       Latex

    Availability:
       Anonymous ftp from:

    o  Unix: CTAN:/web/nuweb

    o  DOS:  CTAN:/web/nuweb-pc

    o  LPA:/independent

    o  Amiga: CTAN:/web/nuweb/nuweb_ami

    o  Amiga: wuarchive.wustl.edu/pub/aminet

    Readme:
       Send mail to <[email protected]>


    Description:
       A single program that takes a web file written in a
combination
       of latex and any programming language(s) and produces a latex
       file that can be pretty printed and a set of files containing
       code for compilation/interpretation by the appropriate
language
       processors.


       Strengths include speed, simplicity, multiple languages, nice
       indices and cross-references, latex.  Doesn't require any
       special macros or macro files.


       Drawbacks: latex-dependent, no code pretty printing, harder to
       make indices than cweb.


       More good stuff: nice support for make, doesn't reformat
source
       files, so they're easy to debug.  Lots of control without too
       much effort.  That is, it doesn't do too much!


       Future directions... Very little change planned, except
perhaps
       refinements in the indexing software.


    Support:
       Hack it yourself or send e-mail to <[email protected]>


 8.6.  ProTeX


    Developer:
       Eitan Gurari <[email protected]>

    Version:
       ProTeX 1.5,  AlProTeX 2.3

    Hardware:
       Any platform with (La)TeX

    Languages:
       Any language

    Formatter:
       TeX or LaTeX

    Availability:
       Anonymous ftp from:

    o  www.cis.ohio-state.edu/~gurari/systems.html

    o  LPA:/independent

    Readme:
       With bundle above

    Description:

    o  Easy to use

    o  Extensible

    o  Language independent

    o  Multiple output files

    o  Fast (single compilation provides output and dvi files)

    o  Option for XHTML and pdf files

    o  No installation is needed besides copying the files (written
in
       TeX) Introduction of main features and examples on web site
       above.  Complete manual in Eitan M. Gurari, "TeX and LaTeX:
       Drawing and Literate Programming", McGraw-Hill, 1994

    Support:
       <[email protected]>



 9.  Unsupported Tools



 9.1.  AFTWEB (Almost Free Text WEB)


    Developer:
       Todd A. Coram

    Version:
       4.6

    Hardware:
       Linux, Unix, MSDOS Any system with Perl, and a C++ compiler
with
       STL (such as gcc 2.7.2).

    Languages:
       Any (C/C++ support supplied)

    Formatter:
       LaTeX or HTML by way of AFT.

    Availability:
       www.mindspring.com/~coram/aft.html

    Readme:
       Bundled with above.


    Brief description:
       AFTWEB uses a CWEB-like syntax. It uses AFT for documentation
       markup (AFT is a minimalistic, yet powerful, markup language
       with very few commands).  AFTWEB was written in AFTWEB (using
       C++) and the weaved document is available online (as HTML) at
       the URL listed above.


       Support for C and C++ is supplied. You can easily support
other
       languages (such as Java and Perl) by writing a new language
       description file.


       The markup language AFT is very easy to learn and is available
       at the same URL as AFTWEB.


    Support:
       Bugs to [email protected]


 9.2.  APLWEB


    Developer:
       Christoph von Basum

    Version:
       Unknown

    Hardware:
       MSDOS

    Languages:
       IBM APL2 and STSC APL

    Formatter:
       Plain TeX

    Availability:
       Anonymous ftp from: watserv1.uwaterloo.ca:/languages/apl/aplwe
b

    Readme:
       At above ftp location.


    Description:
       None available.

    Support:
       Unknown

    Note:
       The status of this particular package is unknown.  It's at the
       ftp site, but other than that I can't say.  Last known email
       address of developer is [email protected].


 9.3.  CLiP


    Developer:
       E.W. van Ammers and M.R. Kramer

    Versions:
       2.0 and 2.4b (DOS only)

    Platform:
       Vax/VMS, Unix, DOS

    Languages:
       Any programming language

    Formatter:
       Any formatter (TeX, LaTeX, Troff, Runoff, HTML, etc) or any
       wordprocessor including WYSIWYG systems (Word Perfect,
WinWord,
       Ami Pro, Word Pro, etc.)

    Availability:
       Anonymous ftp from:

    o  ftp://sun01.info.wau.nl:/CLIP/ms_dos

    o  ftp://sun01.info.wau.nl:/CLIP/ms_dos_24b

    o  ftp://sun01.info.wau.nl:/CLIP/vax_vms

    o  ftp://sun01.info.wau.nl:/CLIP/unix

    o  CTAN:/web/clip

    o  LPA:/machines/ms-dos

    o  LPA:/machines/vax

    Readme:
       With bundle above

    Description:
       CLiP does not use explicit commands to perform the extraction
       process. Rather it recognizes pseudostatements written as
       comments in the programming language in question. CLiP
       distinguishes pseudostatements from ordinary comments because
       the former comply with a particular style. This style can be
       adjusted to suit virtually any programming language. The CLiP
       approach to LP makes the system extremely versatile. It is
       independent of programming language and text processing
       environment. We designed CLiP to be compatible with hypertext
       systems as well. Some hypertext examples are at:

    o  ftp://sun01.info.wau.nl/clip/html/queens.htm

    o  ftp://sun01.info.wau.nl/clip/html/pal1.htm

    Features:

    o  CLiP imposes virtually no limitations on the text-processing
       system used to produce the documentation. If the
text-processor
       supports these items you can

    o  structure the documentation according to your own taste.

    o  include drawings, pictures, tables etc.

    o  disclose your documentation my means of X-ref tables, Indexes,
       Table of contents, Table of tables, Table of figures, etc.

    o  typeset the documented code.

    o  Extracts any number of modules from a maximum of 64 source
       files.

    o  No pretty-printing. Code from the source files is copied "as
is"
       to the module.

    o  Appearance of code segments in the documentation matches those
       of the modules to ease the identification of code segments.

    o  Supports partially specified data types.

    o  Comprehensive user manual (preliminary version) and technical
       description.

    o  No automatic generation of a X-ref table for program
       identifiers.

    Support:
       Bugs, problems and assistance by e-mail to
       <[email protected]>


 9.4.  mCWEB


    Developer:
       Markus Oellinger

    Version:
       1.0

    Hardware:
       Unix

    Languages:
       C/C++

    Formatter:
       plain TeX

    Availability:
       anonymous ftp from ist.tu-
       graz.ac.at:/pub/utils/litprog/mcweb/mcweb.tgz

    Readme:
       at same location

    Description:
       This is mCWEB 1.0, a descendant of the CWEB system of
structured
       documentation by Donald E. Knuth and Silvio Levy.  It adds
some
       features that are indispensable when working in a team. mCWEB
       regards a project of a book consisting of several chapter
files.
       By means of import and export commands, it automatically
manages
       all relationships between the chapters of a book and to other
       books.


       Interface documentation is now also part of mCWEB. It is
       extracted into a second TeX file. This makes it possible to
       define well known interfaces between the individual parts of a
       project that will be implemented by different persons.


       In addition, mCWEB parses C header files to find out about all
       the datatypes defined there.


       mCWEB comes with a full completely rewritten user manual and
is
       compatible with CWEB.


    Support:
       Institute of Software Technology, [email protected]


 9.5.  FunnelWeb


    Developer:
       Ross N. Williams [email protected]

    Version:
       V3.2  (May 1999).

    Hardware:
       MS-DOS, MacOS, Win32, OpenVMS, Solaris, Red Hat Linux, BSD/OS,
       FreeBSD, Digital Unix, IRIX.

    Status:
       Open Source GNU.

    Languages:
       No restrictions.

    Formatter:
       Generates TeX and/or HTML

    Web:
       www.ross.net/funnelweb/

    Availability:
       ftp.ross.net/clients/ross/funnelweb/

    Readme:
       With bundle above.


    Description:
       FunnelWeb is a production-quality literate-programming tool
that
       emphasises simplicity and reliability. Everything about
       FunnelWeb, from the simplicity of its language to the
       comprehensive tutorial in the user's manual, has been designed
       to make this as simple, as practical, and as usable a tool as
       possible.

    Features:

    o  Provides a simple macro preprocessor facility.

    o  Generates typeset documentation in TeX and/or HTML formats.

    o  Runs on a wide range of platforms.

    o  Portable C source code distributed under GNU licence.

    o  Comprehensively documented online:

    o  www.ross.net/funnelweb/tutorial/

    o  www.ross.net/funnelweb/reference/

    o  www.ross.net/funnelweb/developer/

    o  Programming-language independent.

    o  Mature and essentially bug-free (released 1992).

    o  Can generate multiple output files.

    o  Allows complete control over the output text.

    o  Also useful for generating web sites!


    Support:
       No formal support available.  Mailing list maintained with
about
       50 subscribers.  Informal assistance available from mailing
       list.


 9.6.  FunnelWeb 3.0AC


    Developer:
       Enhanced by A.B.Coates [email protected] from FunnelWeb
       v3.0 by Ross N. Williams [email protected]

    Version:
       3.0AC

    Hardware:
       MSDOS, Mac, VMS, Sun, OSF/1, Linux, Sys.V, OS/2.

    Languages:
       No restrictions.

    Formatter:
       Tex, LaTeX, or HTML.

    Availability:
       Anonymous ftp from
       ftp.physics.uq.oz.au:/pub/funnelwebAC30.tar.gz

    Readme:
       With bundle above; for FunnelWeb manual see WWW page
       www.physics.uq.oz.au:8001/people/coates/funnelweb.html


    Description:
       FunnelWeb 3.0AC is an enhanced version of FunnelWeb (see the
       entry for FunnelWeb).  FunnelWeb is designed to be typesetter
       independent, though FunnelWeb v3.0 only supports (La)TeX as
the
       typesetter.  FunnelWeb 3.0AC also supports HTML, and creates
       appropriate hypertext links within the document among the code
       sections.  FunnelWeb 3.0AC also supports automatic and manual
       insertion of line directives, so that compiler errors can be
       flagged back to the original FunnelWeb source file.  FunnelWeb
       3.0AC is completely compatible with FunnelWeb v3.0 sources
(with
       one minor exception; see the file README.ABC which comes with
       the FunnelWeb 3.0AC distribution).


    Support:
       Supported by A.B.Coates [email protected], subject to
the
       time constraints imposed by his thesis.


 9.7.  LEO


    Developer:
       Edward K. Ream [email protected]

    Version:
       1.0

    Hardware:
       Windows

    Languages:
       Unknown

    Formatter:
       Unknown

    Availability:
       Contact the author or see
       www.mailbag.com/users/edream/front.html

    Readme:
       Unknown

    Description:
       See web site.

    Support:
       Unknown.


 9.8.  Literate Programmer's Workshop (LPW)


    Developer:
       Norbert Lindenberg

    Version:
       1.1

    Hardware:
       Apple Macintosh

    Languages:
       C++, Object Pascal & others

    Formatter:
       self-contained WYSIWYG system

    Availability:
       Anonymous ftp from:

    o  CTAN:/web/lpw

    o  ftp.apple.com:/pub/literate.prog

    Readme:
       With bundle above.  Also comes with 38-page manual.


    Description:
       The Literate Programming Workshop is an environment for the
       integrated development of program source text and
documentation
       in combined documents. It consists of a WYSIWYG word processor
       based on a style sheet approach, a mechanism to extract parts
of
       the text in a document, and a project management system that
       handles multi-document projects. The system is designed to be
       used in conjunction with the Macintosh Programmer's Workshop:
it
       prepares raw source text for the MPW compilers, accepts MPW
       error messages, and shows them in the context of the original
       documents. Automatic indexing and hypertext features allow for
       easy access to both source text and documentation.


       LPW is shareware.


    Support:
       Bugs, problems, and questions to [email protected]


 9.9.  MapleWEB


    Developer:
       Unknown

    Version:
       Unknown

    Hardware:
       Unknown

    Languages:
       Maple

    Formatter:
       Unknown

    Availability:
       Anonymous ftp from CTAN/maple/mapleweb

    Readme:
       Unknown

    Description:
       None

    Support:
       Unknown





 9.10.  Matlabweb


    Developer:
       Mark Potse

    Version:
       2.09

    Hardware:
       any, but only Unix tested & supported

    Languages:
       Matlab

    Formatter:
       Plain TeX and LaTeX.

    Availability:
       Anonymous ftp from the CTAN archives,

    Readme:
       Bundled with above


    Description:
       CWEB-like literate programming system for the Matlab language.
       Created with a modified version of the Spider system. Several
       more or less language-specific features:

    o  macros with multiple arguments

    o  comments and verbatim comments

    o  strings can be formatted as code, with help for nested
strings,
       e.g. for callbacks in user interface programming.

    o  string arguments for macros, that get inserted in strings in
the
       replacement text

    o  "@f foo TeX"  works as in recent versions of CWEB

    Support:
       not guaranteed. Try [email protected], comments are welcome.


 9.11.  RWEB


    Developer:
       Unknown

    Version:
       Unknown

    Hardware:
       Unknown

    Languages:
       Unknown

    Formatter:
       Unknown

    Availability:
       Anonymous ftp from CTAN
    Readme:
       Unknown

    Description:
       Web generator in AWK.

    Support:
       Unknown


 9.12.  SchemeWEB


    Developer:
       John D. Ramsdell

    Version:
       2.1

    Hardware:
       Unix and DOS platforms

    Languages:
       Any dialect of Lisp.

    Formatter:
       LaTeX.

    Availability:
       The Unix version is in the Scheme Repository and it is
available
       via anonymous ftp from:

    o  cs.indiana.edu:/pub/scheme-repository/utl/schemeweb.sh

    o  CTAN:/tex-archive/web/schemeweb

    o  The DOS version is part of the PCS/Geneva Scheme system which
is
       available via anonymous ftp from: cui.unige.ch:/pub/pcs

    Readme:
       In bundle with above.

    Description:
       SchemeWEB is a Unix filter that allows you to generate both
Lisp
       and LaTeX code from one source file.  The generated LaTeX code
       formats Lisp programs in typewriter font obeying the spacing
in
       the source file. Comments can include arbitrary LaTeX
commands.
       SchemeWEB was originally developed for the Scheme dialect of
       Lisp, but it can easily be used with most other dialects.

    Support:
       Bug reports to [email protected].


 9.13.  SpideryWEB


    Developer:
       Norman Ramsey <[email protected]>

    Version:
       Unknown

    Hardware:
       Unix and DOS platforms

    Languages:
       Most Algol-like languages, including C, Ada, Pascal, Awk, and
       many others.

    Formatter:
       Plain TeX and latex for text formatters.

    Availability:
       Anonymous ftp from CTAN.

    Readme:
       In distribution.


    Description:
       A system for building language-dependent WEBs. Spider is
frozen;
       no further development is planned.


    Support:
       Bug reports to [email protected].


 9.14.  WEB


    Developer:
       Donald Knuth

    Version:
       4.4 (apparently)

    Hardware:
       Any TeX system should have it.

    Languages:
       Pascal

    Formatter:
       TeX (of course! ;-)

    Availability:
       Distributed with TeX systems.  Also avaliable in source form
       from labrea.stanford.edu/tex/web.

    Readme:
       Unknown

    Documentation:
       Available from labrea.stanford.edu/tex/web/webman.tex

    Description:
       This is the original software that started it all.  The
original
       TeX processor was written in WEB.

    Support:
       None known.


 9.15.  WinWordWEB


    Developer:
       Lee Wittenberg [email protected]


    Version:
       Unknown

    Hardware:
       Needs Microsoft Word for Windows, v.2.x, and, of course, MS-
       Windows 3.x.

    Languages:
       Any programming language.

    Formatter:
       Word for Windows 2.x for text formatting and file maintenance.

    Availability:
       samson.kean.edu:pub/leew

    Readme:
       WORDWEB.DOC in the downloadable package describes the system.

    Description:
       WinWordWEB is a set of a Word for Windows macros (plus a
       paragraph style) that provide a crude literate programming
       environment.  The ``look and feel'' of the system is based on
       Norman Ramsey's noweb, but can easily be modified to suit
       individual tastes.

    Support:
       None.  WinWordWEB was written as a prototype to see if a
WYSIWYG
       literate programming system was possible.  It is intended as a
       jumping off point for future work by others. However, the
system
       is surprisingly usable as it stands, and the author is
       interested in hearing from users (satisfied and dissatisfied).


       Anyone interested in actively supporting (and improving) the
       product should contact the author via email.



 10.  Are there other tools I should know about?

 Follows is a list of some not-quite-literate-programming tools.
Some
 term these pretty-printers.  Others may call them literate
programming
 tools.  In any event, they don't seem to be quite in the same
category
 as the tools listed above, so I'll include them here.


 10.1.  C2LaTeX


    Developer:
       John D. Ramsdell

    Version:
       Unknown

    Hardware:
       Unix

    Languages:
       C

    Formatter:
       LaTeX but it's easy to change the formatter.


    Availability:
       Anonymous ftp from omnigate.clarkson.edu:/pub/tex/tex-
       programs/c2latex.

    Readme:
       Absent.  Documentation is in the C source for c2latex.

    Description:
       C2latex provides simple support for literate programming in C.
       Given a C source file in which the comments have been written
in
       LaTeX, c2latex converts the C source file into a LaTeX source
       file.  It can be used to produce typeset listings of C
programs
       and/or documentation associated with the program.

       C2latex produces LaTeX source by implementing a small number
of
       rules.  A C comment that starts at the beginning of a line is
       copied unmodified into the LaTeX source file.  Otherwise, non-
       blank lines are surrounded by a pair of formatting commands
       (\begin{flushleft} and \end{flushleft}), and the lines are
       separated by \\*. Each non-blank line is formatted using
LaTeX's
       \verb command, except comments within the line are formatted
in
       an \mbox.

    Support:
       Send bug reports to [email protected].


 10.2.  c2cweb


    Developer:
       Werner Lemberg

    Version:
       1.5

    Hardware:
       DOS, OS/2, Unix (gcc) - CWEB source included

    Languages:
       C, C++

    Formatter:
       TeX

    Availability:
       Anonymous ftp from CTAN:/web/c_cpp/c2cweb

    Readme:
       In distribution.

    Description:
       c2cweb will transform plain C or C++ code into a CWEB file to
       get a pretty formatted output. A modified CWEAVE (which
       transforms the CWEB file into a TeX file, see below) is
included
       also.

    Support:
       Werner Lemberg <[email protected]>


 10.3.  c2man


    author:
       Graham Stoney <[email protected]>
    language:
       C, nroff, texinfo, latex, html

    version:
       2.0 patchlevel 33

    parts:
       documentation generator (C -> nroff -man, -> texinfo, ->latex,
       -> html)

    location:
       ftp from

    o  any comp.sources.misc archive, in volume42 (the version in the
       comp.sources.reviewed archive is obsolete)

    o  dnpap.et.tudelft.nl/pub/Unix/Util/ c2man-2.0.*.tar.gz

    o  Australia archie.au/usenet/comp.sources.misc/volume42
       c2man-2.0/*

    o  N.America ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/usenet/comp.sources.misc/volume4
2/
       c2man-2.0/*

    o  Europe: ftp://ftp.irisa.fr/News/comp.sources.misc/volume42/
       c2man-2.0/*

    o  Japan:
       ftp://ftp.iij.ad.jp/pub/NetNews/comp.sources.misc/volume42/
       c2man-2.0/*

    Patches:
       lth.se/pub/netnews/sources.bugs/volume93/sep/c2man*

    description:
       c2man is an automatic documentation tool that extracts
comments
       from C source code to generate functional interface
       documentation in the same format as sections 2 & 3 of the Unix
       Programmer's Manual. It requires minimal effort from the
       programmer by looking for comments in the usual places near
the
       objects they document, rather than imposing a rigid function-
       comment syntax or requiring that the programmer learn and use
a
       typesetting language. Acceptable documentation can often be
       generated from existing code with no modifications.

    conformance:
       supports both K&R and ISO/ANSI C coding styles

    features:

    o  generates output in nroff -man, TeXinfo, LaTeX or HTML format

    o  handles comments as part of the language grammar

    o  automagically documents enum parameter & return values

    o  handles C (/* */) and C++ (//) style comments

    o  doesn't handle C++ grammar (yet)

    requires:
       yacc/byacc/bison, lex/flex, and nroff/groff/texinfo/LaTeX.

    ports:
       Unix, OS/2, MSDOS, VMS.

    portability:
       very high for unix, via Configure

    status:
       actively developed; contributions by users are encouraged.

    discussion:
       via a mailing list: send "subscribe c2man <Your Name>" (in the
       message body) to [email protected]

    help:
       from the author and other users on the mailing list:
       [email protected]

    announcements:
       patches appear first in comp.sources.bugs, and then in
       comp.sources.misc.

    updated:
       1994/10/07


 10.4.  cnoweb


    Developer:
       Jim Fox

    Version:
       1.4 (January 4, 1991)

    Hardware:
       Anything with C and TeX.

    Languages:
       C

    Formatter:
       Plain TeX.

    Availability:
       Anonymous ftp from:

    o  CTAN

    o  LPA:/c.c++

    Readme:
       Unknown, cnoweb.tex contains documentation.

    Description:
       cnoweb is as it's name describes: write C, not web.  No
tangling
       or weaving is implemented.  Documentation (between standard /*
       */ delimiteres) is written in TeX.  cnoweb provides
typesetting
       of documentation, an table of contents of routines, and
pretty-
       printing of C source.

    Support:
       None known.


 10.5.  dpp


    Developer:
       Dan Schmidt <[email protected]>
    Version:
       0.2.1

    Hardware:
       Any platform with Perl 5

    Languages:
       C/C++ (Java soon), under noweb

    Formatter:
       LaTeX

    Availability:
       www.dfan.org/real/dpp.nw

    Readme:
       www.dfan.org/real/dpp.html

    Support:
       email to the author <[email protected]>

    Description:
       dpp is a C/C++ prettyprinter for noweb.  Its output is
extremely
       similar to that of CWEB, but it respects the indentation and
       line breaks of the source file.

       Features include:

    o  user-defined keywords

    o  the ability to turn prettyprinting off for specified output
       files (e.g., makefiles)

    o  the option to typeset comments in TeX, or not

    o  prettyprinting of quoted code, in documentation or chunk names

    o  the ability to undo whitespace hand-formatting that looks good
       monospaced but awful in a proportional font



 10.6.  Fold2Web


    Developer:
       Bernhard Lang [email protected]

    Version:
       V0.8

    Hardware:
       MSDOS

    Languages:
       All (must allow comment lines)

    Formatter:
       LaTeX

    Availability:
       Anonymous ftp from: kirk.ti1.tu-harburg.de (134.28.41.50)
       /pub/fold2web/readme /pub/fold2web/fold2web.zip

    Readme:
       In distribution
    Description:
       The idea behind the Fold2Web tool is the following: A
programmer
       can write his program source with a folding editor and later
map
       the folded source files automatically to WEB-files. The
       generated WEB-files can then be modified by inserting required
       documentations.


       The advantage by starting program developement with original
       sources is to get short design cycles during the compile/debug
       steps. By using a folding editor the global structuring
       information can be already captured in folds during this
       developement phase. Fold information is typically stored in
       comment lines and thus will not affect the efficiency of the
       compile/debug design cycle.


       Some folding editors and a folding mode for the emacs are
       available (e.g. see our FUE folding editor for MSDOS machines
       which is a modified micro emacs. Pick it at kirk in directory
       /pub/fold2web).


       After reaching a stable version of a program source its time
to
       convert the source file to a WEB-file and do the program
       documentation.  Fold2Web is written to convert folded source
       text of any programming language to nuweb files. The folded
       structure is kept by mapping folds to scraps. Fold markers
which
       differ between languages due to different ways of specifying
       comments can be configured for each language.


       Good results can also achived when given but poor documented
       program sources have to be modified. Such sources can be
folded
       using a folding editor to extract the global structures. This
       offers a global view to the program structures and help to
       understand its functionality.  Furthermore the program code is
       not affected, only comment lines are inserted. Once folded the
       program source can be automatically translated to a WEB
document
       using the above tool.


    Support:
       email to [email protected]


 10.7.  Funnelweb Mode


    Developer:
       Daniel Simmons [email protected]

    Version:
       Unknown

    Availability:
       www.miscrit.be/~ddw


    Description:
       The other day I did a quick hack to nuweb.el as included with
       the nuweb distribution so as to make a funnelweb-mode.el.
I've
       only used it briefly, and I'm sure that it can be improved
quite
       a bit.  I've been thinking about adding support for folding on
       sections, a pull-down menu to select macro definitions (like
the
       recent functions posted to gnu.emacs.sources for a C function
       definition pull-down menu) and some kind of tags support for
       funnelweb.


    Support:
       Unknown


 10.8.  noweb.el


    Developer:
       Bruce Stephens (no email contact)

    Version:
       Unknown.

    Availability:
       Lost

    Description:
       This is a very simple mode I just hacked up.  There's a lot
       wrong with it, but I thought others may be interested, even as
       it stands.  It *requires* text properties, and assumes those
       used in GNU Emacs 19.22; it'll quite likely work with Lucid
       Emacs, but I haven't tried it.


       I use it with auctex8.1 and cc-mode 3.229, both of which are
       loaded separately (I think my emacs is dumped with them, in
       fact).


       The idea is to have one mode (which calls itself c-mode, but
       actually has LaTeX-mode keybindings) generally (this means
that
       the code is hilighted nicely), and have the code chunks use a
       different keymap.

    Support:
       Unknown


 10.9.  noweb-outline.el


    Developer:
       Dan Schmidt [email protected]

    Version:
       0.0.3

    Hardware:
       Any platform with Emacs

    Languages:
       noweb

    Availability:
       www.dfan.org/real/noweb-outline.el

    Readme:
       www.dfan.org/real/noweb-outline.html

    Support:
       email to the author, [email protected]

    Description:
       noweb-outline.el is a mode for Emacs that allows you to easily
       navigate the chunk tree of a noweb program.


       One of the problems with literate programming is that it's
easy
       to lose track of how your tangled source file (the one that
the
       compiler actually sees) is structured. In noweb-outline-mode,
       you can interactively explore the tree of chunks you are
       creating, giving you the big picture as well as the small.
       Enough description; it would take more time for me to explain
it
       than for you to just go ahead and try it out.


       noweb-outline.el is currently in an alpha state (I've worked
on
       it for only a couple of days), but it is already very useful.
A
       nice file to use to try it out is example/wc.nw in the noweb
       distribution.


 10.10.  nuweb.el


    Developer:
       Dominique de Waleffe [email protected]

    Version:
       1.99

    Availability:
       Anonymous ftp from CTAN


    Description:
       Provides a major mode extending Auctex for editing nuweb
files.
       Main features (in 2.0):

    o  Edit scrap bodies in a separate buffer in a different mode
       (selected using emacs defaults for files, specific indication
       -*-mode-*-, or a buffer-local variable)

    o  Extends Auctex commands so that nuweb is called before LaTeX,

    o  Easy navigation on scrap definition and use points.

    o  Now creates an imenu (C-M-mouse1) with user index entries,
macro
       definition positions and file definition positions.


    Support:
       Email to [email protected]


 10.11.  Web mode


    Developer:
       Bart Childs [email protected]

    Version:
       Unknown

    Tools supported:
       web, fweb, cweb, funnelweb


    Availability:
       Anonymous ftp ftp.cs.tamu.edu:pub/tex-web/web/EMACS.web-mode
       thrain.anu.edu.au:pub/web/EMACS.web-mode

    Description:
       This version works with versions 18 and 19 of Emacs to be best
       of my knowledge.  I have cleaned up a number of documentation
       items ...  In the same directory is wm_refcard.tex which is an
       edited version of the famous one to include some web-mode
       commands.


       The files limbo* are related to its use and notice that half
       them have an uppercase L in them for LaTeX.  The setup is
based
       upon the fact that we (I am not alone here) primarily use FWEB
       for C and Fortran programming.


       We are using version 1.40 of FWEB although John Krommes warns
       that it is not mature and the manual is not yet updated.  The
       info files are!  We are using LaTeX almost exclusively.  That
       will likely change and we will revert to version 1.30 if the
       final form of 1.40 cannot return to the simple section numbers
       and avoid the HORRIBLE LATEX 0.1.7.2.4.6 type section numbers.

    Support:
       Unknown


 11.  What other resources are available?

 11.1.  TeX Resources

 Another resource of interest to literate programmers is the
 comp.text.tex newsgroup.   If you're using (La)TeX as your
typsetting
 system and have access to internet, then you should investigate this
 resource.

 Another reason the TeX resources should be important is that so many
 of the literate programming tools rely on either plain TeX or LaTeX
as
 their text formatter.  (La)TeX software systems exist for most
 computing platforms.  These systems can be found on CTAN and other
 major archive sites.  Use archie to find them or simply ftp to one
of
 the CTAN sites and browse.



 12.  Are there any code examples?

 Examples of web programs are included with the FWEB, CWEB, and noweb
 distributions.  nuweb is written in itself.

 Cameron Smith converted the K&R calculator program into a literate
 program.   It can be retrieved by anonymous ftp from:

   niord.shsu.edu [192.92.115.8] directory kr-cweb-sample as
     krcwsamp.zip
   or from
     LPA/Documentation


 Ross Williams has released a funnelweb example.  You can retrieve
this
 file from node ftp.adelaide.edu.au [129.127.40.3] as

   /pub/funnelweb/examples/except.*

 This file should be on CTAN as well.

 Lee Wittenberg has posted a few litprog examples.  They are
available
 via anonymous ftp from:

         ftp://samson.kean.edu/pub/leew/samples.LP


 The Stanford GraphBase is a large collection of programs by Don
Knuth
 for doing all kinds of computations and games with graphs; it is
writ-
 ten in (Levy/Knuth) CWEB. More details in the distribution.  It is
 available via anonymous ftp from:

   labrea.stanford.edu:/pub/sgb





 13.  Bibliographies

 Nelson Beebe has collected an extensive bibliography treating
literate
 programming.  His work is available for anonymous ftp from
 ftp://ftp.math.utah.edu/pub/tex/bib/index.html#litprog.  Be sure to
 look around this site; there are many things of interest to user of
 TeX resources as well as literate programmers.

 Although I have not verified this, LPA is an alternate source for
 these files.  Note that they are updated frequently (Nelson says
 several times each week), so be sure to get a fresh copy before
 extensive use.  Joachim Schrod indicates that these files may be
 updated daily and can be retrieved via anonymous ftp at
 LPA/documentation.



 14.  Other Opinions about Literate Programming



 14.1.  van Ammers

 An author (Eric W. van Ammers) wrote me a short article treating his
 opinions on literate programming.

 First observation on LP

 About 90% of the disussion on this list is about problems with
 applying some WEB-family member to a particular programming language
 or a special documentation situation.  This is ridiculous, I think.
 Let me explain shortly why.

 Lemma 1:

 I have proposed for many years that programming has nothing to do
with
 programming langauges, i.e. a good programmer makes good programs in
 any language (given some time to learn the syntax) and a bad
 programmer will never make a good program, no matter the language he
 uses (today many people share this view, fortunately).

 Lemma 2:

 Literate Programming has (in a certain way not yet completely
 understood) to do with essential aspects of programming.


 Conclusion 1:

 A LP-tool should be independent of programming language.

 Lemma 3:

 It seems likely that the so called BOOK FORMAT PARADIGM [ref. 1]
plays
 an important role in making literate programs work.

 Lemma 4:

 There are very many documentation systems currently being used to
 produce documents in the BOOK FORMAT.

 Conclusion 2:

 A LP-tool should be independent of the documentation system that the
 program author whishes to use.

 My remark some time ago that we should discuss the generic
properties
 of an LP-tool was based on the above observation.

 References:

 [1] Paul W. Oman and Curtus Cook. ``Typographical style is more than
 cosmetic.''  CACM 33, 5, 506-520 (May 1990)

 Second observation on LP

 The idea of a literate program as a text book should be extendend
even
 further. I would like to see a literate program as an (in)formal
 argument of the correctness of the program.

 Thus a literate program should be like a textbook on mathematicics.
A
 mathematical textbook explains a theory in terms of lemma and
 theorems. But the proofs are never formal in the sense that they are
 obtaind by symbol manipulation of a proof checker. Rather the proofs
 are by so called ``informal rigour'', i.e. by very precise and
 unambiguous sentences in a natural language.

 Eric W. van Ammers <[email protected]>



 14.2.  Ramsey

 Another author (Norman Ramsey) wrote me and asked that his opinions
be
 included in the FAQ.  What follows are Norman's comments verbatim.

 I see it's time for the ``how is literate programming different from
 verbose commenting'' question.  Perhaps David Thompson will get this
 into the FAQ.  Alert! What follows are my opinions.  In no way do I
 claim to speak for the (fractious) literate-programming community.

 How is literate programming different from verbose commenting?

 There are three distinguishing characteristics.  In order of
 importance, they are:

 1. flexible order of elaboration

 2. automatic support for browsing

 3. typeset documentation, especially diagrams and mathematics


 Flexible order of elaboration means being able to divide your source
 program into chunks and write the chunks in any order, independent
of
 the order required by the compiler.  In principle, you can choose
the
 order best suited to explaining what you are doing.  More subtly,
this
 discipline encourages the author of a literate program to take the
 time to consider each fragment of the program in its proper sphere,
 e.g., not to rush past the error checking to get to the ``good
 parts.'' In its time and season, each part of the program is a good
 part. (This is the party line; your mileage may vary.)

 I find the reordering most useful for encapsulating tasks like input
 validation, error checking, and printing output fit for humans ---
all
 tasks that tend to obscure ``real work'' when left inline.
Reordering
 is less important when using languages like Modula-3, which has
 exceptions and permits declarations in any order, than when using
 languages like C, which has no exceptions and requires declaration
 before use.

 Automatic support for browsing means getting a table of contents,
 index, and cross-reference of your program.  Cross-reference might
be
 printed, so that you could consult an index to look up the
definition
 of an identifier `foo'.  With good tools, you might get a printed
 mini-index on every page if you wanted.  Or if you can use a
hypertext
 technology, cross-reference might be as simple as clicking on an
 identifier to reach its definition.

 Indexing is typically done automatically or `semi-automatically',
the
 latter meaning that identifier definitions are marked by hand.
 Diligently done semi-automatic indexes seem to be best, because the
 author can mark only the identifiers he or she considers important,
 but automatic indexing can be almost as good and requires no work.
 Some tools allow a mix of the two strategies.

 Some people have applied literate-programming tools to large batches
 of legacy code just to get the table of contents, index, and cross-
 reference.

 I don't use diagrams and mathematics very often, but I wouldn't want
 to have to live without them.  I have worked on one or two projects
 where the ability to use mathematical formulae to document the
program
 was indispensible.  I also wouldn't like to explain some of my
 concurrent programs without diagrams.  Actually I write almost all
of
 my literate programs using only sections headers, lists, and the
 occasional table.


     >Wouldn't it be easier to do one's literate programming using
     >a wysiwyg word processor (e.g. Word for Windows) and
     >indicate what is source code by putting it in a different
     >font?



 The data formats used in wysiwyg products are proprietary, and they
 tend to be documented badly if at all.  They are subject to change
at
 the whim of the manufacturer. (I'll go out on a limb and say there
are
 no significant wysiwyg tools in the public domain.  I hope the
Andrew
 people will forgive me.) These conditions make it nearly impossible
to
 write tools, especially tools that provide automatic indexing and
 cross-reference support.  The CLiP people have a partial solution
that
 works for tools that can export text --- they plant tags and
 delimiters throughout the document that enable the reordering
 transformation (``tangling'').

 People use TeX, roff, and HTML because free implementations of these
 tools are widely available on a variety of platforms.  TeX and HTML
 are well documented, and TeX and roff are stable.  TeX is the most
 portable.  I think I have just answered the FAQ ``how come all these
 tools use TeX, anyway?'' :-)

 Norman Ramsey



 14.3.  My (Dave Thompson's) Experience

 In contrast to Eric's and Norman's comments, I'd like to interject
 from an anecdotal perspective.

 I first ran across the idea of literate programming in 1992 while
 poking around George Greenwade's TeX archive (at niord.shsu.edu) and
 stumbling on some of the tools.  My first experience was tinkering
 with cnoweb, see Section ``cnoweb''.  I used cnoweb to document a
 simple Bernoulli equation toy I built (in C) while working on a one-
 dimensional hydrodynamic model (in Fortran).  I was convinced that
 literate programming had promise (although cnoweb really qualifies
as
 a pretty-printing tool).

 After reading Sewell's book, I kept hunting through the tools
 available until I found things that worked for me.  (More here as I
 have time to develop the story.)



 14.4.  Others

 I recently received email from Dave Johnson <[email protected]>
about
 his work developing language independent techniques.  The web site
is
 www.dscope.com.au.



 15.  How to anonymously ftp

 Pretty much everything mentioned here is available by anonymous FTP.
 FAQ lists cross-posted to news.answers and rec.answers can be gotten
 from rtfm.mit.edu [18.181.0.24], under /pub/usenet/news.answers or
 under /pub/usenet/more.specific.group.name

 "anonymous FTP" is just a way for files to be stored where anyone
can
 retrieve them over the Net.    For example, to retrieve the latest
 version of the literate programming FAQ, do the following:

 > ftp rtfm.mit.edu              /* connect to the site; message
follows */
 > anonymous                     /* type this when it asks for your
name */
 > <your email address>          /* type your address as the
password    */
 > cd /pub/usenet                /* go to the directory you want to
be   */
 > cd comp.programming.literate  /* one level down (no slash).
   */
 > dir                           /* look at what's there
   */
 > get literate-progamming-faq   /* get the file; case-sensitive
   */
 > quit                          /* stop this mysterious thing
   */


 If your FTP program complains that it doesn't know where the site
you
 want to use is, type the numerical address instead of the sitename:

 > ftp 18.181.0.24               /* connect with numerical address */


 If you don't have ftp access, send e-mail to [email protected]
u
 with the single word "help" in the body of the message.

 Getting binary files (executables, or any compressed files) is only
 slightly more difficult.   You need to set binary mode inside FTP
 before you transfer the file.

 > binary            /* set binary transfer mode  */
 > ascii             /* set back to text transfer mode */


 FAQs and spoiler lists are generally ascii files; everything else is
 generally binary files.

 Some common extensions on binary files in archive sites are:

   .Z           Compressed; extract with uncompress
   .tar.Z       Compressed 'tape archive'; uncompress then untar or
tar -xvf
   .gz or .z    Gnu gzip; use gunzip (available from
prep.gnu.ai.mit.edu)
   .sit         (Mac) StufIt archive
   .zip         Extract with Zip or Unzip
   .zoo         Yet another archive/compress program
   .lhe         (Amiga) ?
   .lzh         Lha archive program.
   .arj         (PC) Arj archive program.
   .exe         (PC) Sometimes self-extracting archives-just execute
them.
   .uue or .UUE Transfer as text file; use uudecode to convert to
binary
   .hqx         (Mac) BinHex format; transfer in text mode


 Generic help can be found in the FAQs of comp.binaries.  <your_sys-
 tem_type> for how to transfer, extract, and virus-check binary
files.
 (At rtfm.mit.edu)

 If you can't FTP from your site, use one of the following
ftp-by-mail
 servers:

   [email protected]
   [email protected]
   [email protected]
   [email protected]


 For complete instructions, send a message reading "help" to the
 server.

 If you don't know exactly what you're looking for, or exactly where
it
 is, there are programs and servers that can help you.  For more
info,
 send e-mail to [email protected] with the body of the
message
 reading send usenet/news.answers/finding-sources


 Thanks to Aliza R. Panitz (the "buglady") for this text.  I copied
it
 verbatim from her post on faq-maintainers with only minor
 modifications.



 16.  Acknowledgements

 This document would not have happened without the help of many
people.
 George Greenwade was instrumental in establishing the original
mailing
 list way back in the early '90's (when I first became involved).
 Marcus Speh started one of the early ftp sites and was an active
 participant.  Among them are, Rob Beezer, Joachim Schrod, Piet van
 Oostrum, Ross N. Williams, Nelson H. F. Beebe, and Andrew Johnson.
We
 wouldn't have literate programming if it wasn't for Donald Knuth and
 TeX.  Certainly, we wouldn't be where we are without the tool
 developers (all credited in their entries above).
 Cesar Bellardini [email protected] deserves thanks for
 translating the FAQ into Spanish.

 A special thanks to Aliza R. Panitz for the text describing how to
 execute an anonymous ftp for files of interest.

 Any omissions from these acknowledgements should be considered an
 accident on my part.  Furthermore, participants in the
 comp.programming.literate newsgroup all contributed in various
 fashions.  Thank all of you.



 17.  End notes

 This document remains in a state of evolution (although I'm a strict
 creationist! <grin>).  I'm working on the SGML version to improve
 formatting of the resulting documents.  I'm also reorganizing the
FAQ
 to improve its usability.  Comments are solicited for such
 improvements.  Omission of a particular tool should not be
considered
 a snub in any sense--simply an error or oversight on my part.