3 ms·

I will probably be downvoted for questioning the legends, but... I don't think the poster child of Literate Programming - TeX itself - really has that readable

I will probably be downvoted for questioning the legends, but... I don't think the poster child of Literate Programming - TeX itself - really has that readable source code. https://mirror-hk.koddos.net/CTAN/systems/knuth/dist/tex/tex.web https://mirror-hk.koddos.net/CTAN/systems/knuth/dist/tex/tex...

zimpenfish 7y ago
I think the "source code" of TeX would be either the WEB files or the formatted output (ie "TeX: The Program") rather than the TeX output from WEB.
- shp0ngle 7y ago
  This IS the web file, no? (and if not, where are the web files?)
  - zimpenfish 7y ago
    My apologies! I misread the file and thought it was the TeX output from the WEB. You are completely correct, that's the WEB file.
svat 7y ago
The .web file is not supposed to be read directly. You're supposed to read the "woven" version: https://texdoc.net/texmf-dist/doc/generic/knuth/tex/tex.pdf https://texdoc.net/texmf-dist/doc/generic/knuth/tex/tex.pdf
- guitarbill 7y ago
  If you have to make changes to it, you'd have to read it directly, right?
  - svat 7y ago
    I think the idea is that if you want to make changes to an existing program, you get up from your desk, go look at your shelves and pull out the sheaf of paper for that program, read/study it, think about what changes are needed, write down the code changes, then go to the computer and type it up -- only in the last step you're looking at the .web file but only for mechanical transcription from paper to computer. (This is not a joke. Knuth still writes not just his papers/books but even his programs by hand on paper first. And this how TeX was written, according to the person other than Knuth who should know best: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10172924 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10172924)
    - db48x 7y ago
      Actually you would go to your bookshelf and get the beautifully typeset book, rather than a sheaf of paper.

zimpenfish 7y ago

I think the "source code" of TeX would be either the WEB files or the formatted output (ie "TeX: The Program") rather than the TeX output from WEB.

shp0ngle 7y ago
This IS the web file, no? (and if not, where are the web files?)
- zimpenfish 7y ago
  My apologies! I misread the file and thought it was the TeX output from the WEB. You are completely correct, that's the WEB file.

svat 7y ago

The .web file is not supposed to be read directly. You're supposed to read the "woven" version: https://texdoc.net/texmf-dist/doc/generic/knuth/tex/tex.pdf https://texdoc.net/texmf-dist/doc/generic/knuth/tex/tex.pdf

guitarbill 7y ago
If you have to make changes to it, you'd have to read it directly, right?
- svat 7y ago
  I think the idea is that if you want to make changes to an existing program, you get up from your desk, go look at your shelves and pull out the sheaf of paper for that program, read/study it, think about what changes are needed, write down the code changes, then go to the computer and type it up -- only in the last step you're looking at the .web file but only for mechanical transcription from paper to computer. (This is not a joke. Knuth still writes not just his papers/books but even his programs by hand on paper first. And this how TeX was written, according to the person other than Knuth who should know best: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10172924 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10172924)
  - db48x 7y ago
    Actually you would go to your bookshelf and get the beautifully typeset book, rather than a sheaf of paper.