[petsc-dev] [DocTip!] #2: Aiming for self-updating docs

[Scott Kruger]

On 2021-11-06 11:12, Matthew Knepley did write:
> On Sat, Nov 6, 2021 at 10:34 AM Patrick Sanan <patrick.sanan at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > I don't know what WEB is, but if you're saying that this is kinda clunky,
> > yes it definitely is - my only contention is that it's better than
> > copy-pasting code and output.  I'm not sure if there's an easier and/or
> > better way with Sphinx.
> >
> 
> WEB was the futuristic documentation idea of Don Knuth.
> 

It never caught on (for good reasons IMO), but it is important
historically and programmers should be aware of it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literate_programming

For those who love literate programming and fortran, PPPL developed this
in the 80's:
https://w3.pppl.gov/~krommes/fweb.html
and I believe it is still maintained.

I dealt with a code written with this tool.  Interesting, but I never
wanted to follow it myself.  

Scott



>   Thanks,
> 
>      Matt
> 
> 
> >
> >> Doing actual literate documentation of key tutorial programs would be a
> >> nice way of doing this, but I realise that's a lot more effort.
> >>
> > This is still a hope/plan to go into doc/tutorials - follow the deal.ii
> > model for a small number of key examples. Matt has done a couple of pages
> > there already, in this direction.
> >
> > Lawrence
> >
> >
> 
> -- 
> What most experimenters take for granted before they begin their
> experiments is infinitely more interesting than any results to which their
> experiments lead.
> -- Norbert Wiener
> 
> https://www.cse.buffalo.edu/~knepley/ <http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/~knepley/>

-- 
Scott Kruger
Tech-X Corporation               kruger at txcorp.com
5621 Arapahoe Ave, Suite A       Phone: (720) 466-3196
Boulder, CO 80303                Fax:   (303) 448-7756