[antlr-interest] "Language design patterns" book available in beta

Edwards, Waverly Waverly.Edwards at genesys.com
Fri Jun 5 21:14:41 PDT 2009


Yes, it can be annoying but I have books that have full source code
but the author, from what I gathered, opted to use the source code
as explanation for what they did but not why they did it.  As more
code is introduced it seems as though the explanation of why something
exists become "self evident" through the analysis of the code, which is
not true.  If you are really engaged by the content of the book, you
wont mind reading the code separately.


W.

________________________________________
From: Terence Parr [parrt at cs.usfca.edu]
Sent: Friday, June 05, 2009 7:15 PM
To: Edwards, Waverly
Cc: antlr ANTLR
Subject: Re: [antlr-interest] "Language design patterns" book available in      beta

Hi. Isn't it annoying though to get a description of something (say in
a printed book) and then have to go to the machine to read along in
the code?

Ter
On Jun 5, 2009, at 12:29 PM, Edwards, Waverly wrote:

>
> I am getting quite a bit out of the descriptions of the patterns.
> I think that by giving the descriptions you provide the framework so
> if
> someone were to look at code, it will make sense.  If I had code but
> less description of the pattern then the moment of discovery may not
> occur.  I am really liking the descriptions and the inline reference
> to other pages or chapters.  I see how they are related and the mental
> connections are being made.  I think if you read the book and look at
> the related source code outside of the book, it will make sense but
> the reverse would not be true.
>
> Also putting the full source puts pressure to leave something else
> out.
>
> I favor a robust pattern description.
>
>
> W.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Terence Parr [mailto:parrt at cs.usfca.edu]
> Sent: Friday, June 05, 2009 1:40 PM
> To: Edwards, Waverly
> Cc: antlr ANTLR
> Subject: Re: [antlr-interest] "Language design patterns" book
> available in beta
>
> Glad to hear the book is meeting your expectations. I only have about
> 80 pages left and I just consumed 26 of those four the first of the
> interpreter chapters. doh!
>
> If I have to skimp to make it into only 350 pages, where should I be
> terse? should I skip patterns or should I include the full source code
> for the pattern and a less verbose description?
>
> Ter
>
> On Jun 5, 2009, at 7:00 AM, Edwards, Waverly wrote:
>
>>
>> I'll pay extra for the extra material.
>>> From what I've seen so far, it will be well worth it.
>>
>>
>> W.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: antlr-interest-bounces at antlr.org [mailto:antlr-interest-bounces at antlr.org
>> ] On Behalf Of ugol
>> Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2009 6:28 PM
>> To: Terence Parr
>> Cc: String Template Mailing LIst; antlr ANTLR
>> Subject: Re: [antlr-interest] "Language design patterns" book
>> available in beta
>>
>>> ha! Yeah, we don't want to create a very intimidating huge book
>>> though.
>>>
>>> I know what you mean. as I started this interpreter chapter, I felt
>>> like I  could finally start the book! I had gone through all of the
>>> preliminary material.  Readers could parse, build an intermediate
>>> representation, walk trees, track and resolve symbols, and do
>>> semantic
>>> analysis such as static type checking.
>>>
>>
>> If you really run out of pages, just publish additional material on
>> the site... but limitating the most interesting part of the book is
>> crazy!!!!!
>>
>> --
>> uL
>>
>> Pragmatist
>> http://blog.ugolandini.com
>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/ugol/
>>
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