[Orgmode] [babel] Org-babel vs NoWeb (and the like)

[Sébastien Vauban]

Hi Dan and Eric,

Please find here a document written with both NoWeb and Org-babel, to be able
to compare and explain the differences between both approaches.

What's *nice with Org-babel* is:

- code is easy to edit in the source buffer with =C-c '= (highlighted
  correctly in the indirect buffer)
- source (Org text + code) is much, much more readable (with nicely
  highlighted sections)
- all the source blocks are correctly colored in the PDF, according to the
  source language (via listings) -- even the ones that are not tangled

Org-babel source: http://www.mygooglest.com/sva/ecm-babel-org.org
Org-babel PDF: http://www.mygooglest.com/sva/ecm-babel-org.pdf

What's *not nice with Noweb* is:

- source (Org text + code) is even less readable than LaTeX, and not really
  correctly fontified by current Emacs modes (being "extended" LaTeX)
- code must be tangled through an external command
- source blocks are just verbatim (with yellow background in my case), but no
  language-sensitive highlighting
- only tangled outputs that are re-imported in the document through listings
  can be highlighted correctly in the PDF

Noweb source: http://www.mygooglest.com/sva/ecm-noweb.nw
Noweb PDF: http://www.mygooglest.com/sva/ecm-noweb.pdf

Though, what's *nice with Noweb* is:

- every code snippet is identified (left, in the PDF) by a counter, for easy
  reference (page + order position) from another block of code
- every code snippet lists where it's used (right, in the PDF), using the same
  counters
- tangled code is correctly indented

These last points are, for me, the only "drawbacks" (a "big word" -- dunno
which other word to use, not native speaker) of Org-babel for literate
programming.

Would they be fixed, Org-babel would clearly, clearly, clearly out-beats all
alternative I'm aware of (Nuweb and NoWeb)...

Would they never be fixed, I still prefer Org-babel (vs NoWeb)!

Best regards,
  Seb

-- 
Sébastien Vauban