Re: [Axiom-developer] Re: Literate programming

[Ralf Hemmecke]

Hi Ed,

> So ... just how does one "get started" doing literate programming in
> Axiom? Suppose, for example, I am working on a queuing theory model and
> want to mix equations, data, graphs, etc. in a paper? Curiously enough,
> LyX interfaces directly to noweb but not to Axiom and TeXmacs interfaces
> directly to Axiom but not to noweb. :)

That sounds to me as if you have slightly different goals from mine.

I wanted an environment that describes theory and the program in 
connection to that theory. I didn't have the need to show output of that 
program. (Well, not yet.)

What you want is basically a running system like Axiom, Maple or 
Mathematica and *use* that system. The code you are going to write will 
probably not be much difficult.

Axiom+TeXmacs, Maple-worksheets and Mma-notebooks provide such an 
environment. But I don't think that is the end of the story. Someone has 
to write the underlying systems. And there is some theory/ideas/etc 
behind the code even if it is not connected with mathematics/physics/etc 
in the first place.

Of course it would be nice to have everything together, but I somehow 
fear that people who primarily _use_ CASs are not well trained 
programmers. I think that makes the code part hard to read even if the 
theory around it is nicely described.

Another point is the integrity of an "interactive" or "computed" 
document. If the underlying system changes (for example Maple modified 
its programming language several times) the results in the document 
might no longer be computable, so the document becomes unusable.

There are lots of problems, that are not yet solved.

I think that TeXmacs is the way to go, but TeXmacs was a bit slow for my 
taste and the wysiwyg thing somehow contradicts TeX. One should 
concentrate on the contents not on its appearance. But of course, having 
CAS command lines integrated into the text is nice.

Ralf