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You can't easily search / grep etc. an IR, unless you use some kind of reverse translator. Readable source files have their benefits in being simple in that sen

by shmerl 1y ago

You can't easily search / grep etc. an IR, unless you use some kind of reverse translator. Readable source files have their benefits in being simple in that sense.

marssaxman 1y ago
Imagine having to write a new diff tool for each language!
- kesor 1y ago
  You don't need a special grep for every language, you just need a tool that translates the mini version into the formatted version and back. Then you chain the tools, just like anything else in UNIX.
  - marssaxman 1y ago
    Seems reasonable. Since you're likely to perform this translation more than once for any given file, it seems like it would be practical to cache the translated output, perhaps as a file on disk.
eviks 1y ago
> unless you use some kind of reverse translator Would a few decades help in universally having such a translator in all the tools?
- account42 1y ago
  In all the tools? No, you'd need an infinite amount of time for that.
  - eviks 1y ago
    The tools didn't require an infinite amount of time to write, why would it take infinity to change a format??? (but no not all the tools, just all the ones that are used)