Re: Docstrings and literate programming (good practices?)

[Samuel Wales]

i wonder if emacs or org has what you might call semi-literate or
etaretil docstring functions?

for example, you have a body of non-literate elisp code, and you have
a manual.  it could be redundant to describe commands and what they do
and their options, if the docstrings are good.

why not include the docstrings of all commands in some nice format in
the .org manual via some mechanism?

would that be a good practice?  seems useful abstractly.


On 11/3/22, Rudolf Adamkovič <salutis@me.com> wrote:
> Juan Manuel Macías <maciaschain@posteo.net> writes:
>
> Hello Juan!
>
>> I can duplicate the text, but it seems to be a bit redundant, right?
>> So what is the best way to proceed when doing literate programming
>> with any language that supports docstrings?  Apologies in advance if
>> the question is a bit silly, but I'm not a professional programmer and
>> don't have an academic background in it, so I don't know if there is
>> any good practice on these things :-)
>
> A "bit silly" question?  I find your question rather profound.  Thank
> you for bringing it up!
>
> Personally, I recommend to use both docstrings and literate programming
> idiomatically, not mixing them.
>
> Literate programming exposes thinking and exploration.
>
> For example, the literate portion can show different approaches you
> tried but abandoned, something that does not belong to the function
> itself, nor in its docstring.  Or, it can include examples, piece-wise
> performance analysis, computer science background, mathematical model,
> citations of prior work, and so on.  Add some assertions and you will
> have literate tests as well.
>
> A docstring describes the function from the outside, as a black box, and
> if you did a good job with it, it makes it simpler for the consumer to
> use your function.
>
> Literate programming, on the other hand, goes deeper.  It describes the
> thinking that went into the function, comfortably exposing its insides
> and opening the black box of its abstraction.
>
> Rudy
> --
> "Strange as it may sound, the power of mathematics rests on its evasion
> of all unnecessary thought and on its wonderful saving of mental
> operations."
> -- Ernst Mach, 1838-1916
>
> Rudolf Adamkovič <salutis@me.com> [he/him]
> Studenohorská 25
> 84103 Bratislava
> Slovakia
>
>


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