A Fresh Look at LP? Announcing Nephila

[Aaron W. Hsu]

Hey Fellow Literate Programmers!

I've been thinking a lot about what Literate Programming is, and where it
can go. My first play with LP was in Scheme, with the ChezWEB [1] system. I
think that it makes literate programming better in Scheme, but I also use
APL. I've read the literature on APL and literate programming, but most of
it is geared towards making literate programming in APL similar to CWEB and
the like. That's fine, but I feel like the APL programming environment
deserve a more interactive, more dynamic approach. I want the documentation
that I generate to be interactive, to live dynamically on the system.

To that end, I've begun working on a literate programming system, Nephila,
that is designed to fit like a well-made cashmere lined glove with the APL
Workspace paradigm. Right now I've been focusing on what the basic
interaction/workflow would be, and I think I've fairly comfortable with
that, but I have not expanded or elaborated on the possibilities for more
dynamic documentation, yet. I am very interested in feedback that others may
have regarding this system and whether they might find it useful.

You can find a basic landing page at

http://www.sacrideo.us/v5/nephila/index.xhtml

Aaron W. Hsu

[Jon Du Kim]

Post by Aaron W. Hsu
You can find a basic landing page at
http://www.sacrideo.us/v5/nephila/index.xhtml

You have a download link on that page which you've decided to
make accessible via gopher? Seriously? You have a gopher server
running? And you expect people to have gopher clients?
Care to share your rationale for this? Nostalgia?

[Aaron W. Hsu]

Post by Jon Du Kim

Post by Aaron W. Hsu
You can find a basic landing page at
http://www.sacrideo.us/v5/nephila/index.xhtml

You have a download link on that page which you've decided to
make accessible via gopher? Seriously? You have a gopher server
running? And you expect people to have gopher clients?
Care to share your rationale for this? Nostalgia?

Yes, largely nostalga. I would normally have an FTP link up as well, but I
have not had time to put it up. Yes, I do have a gopher server running.
Firefox is a gopher client, so I don't consider it too hard, though I admit
it is inconvenient, hence the FTP.

I do not claim that it is rational. :-)

Aaron W. Hsu