Re: [boost] GSoC: Enforcing Code Feature Requirements

Subject: Re: [boost] GSoC: Enforcing Code Feature Requirements
From: Gottlob Frege (gottlobfrege_at_[hidden])
Date: 2010-04-02 02:01:16

On 3/31/10, Andrew Sutton <andrew.n.sutton_at_[hidden]> wrote:
>> Ok I completety get it now. So, thumb up for me :)
>>
>
> This seems like an interesting idea. I think it might factor nicely into my
> PhD dissertation which seems to involve both concepts and software
> maintenance issues.
>
> Andrew Sutton
> andrew.n.sutton_at_[hidden]

I've been thinking lately that concepts and test cases and APIs and
documentation are all intertwined.

D (language) allows unit tests to be coded right beside the implementation code.
Concepts describe constraints that must be successfully 'passed' -
like unit tests.

APIs and documentation often include example-code.

unit tests are often the best examples, and often the best^H^H^H^H
only documentation of the API - ie the API does this - and is suppose
to do this - because that's what the unit tests test for.

Docs can be written in the code comments (eg javadocs), but concepts
and unit tests (particularly in D) are right in the code.

Obviously very vague ideas at the moment.  Maybe I should read up on
Knuth's WEB again...

Tony