> Perhaps a more intelligent version of ctangle which could screw with modification dates of files based on whether the code was actually changed would have helped, but…
yes, it would --- noweb did two things right: they created a helper utility, `cpif`, which checks if a tangled file has changed at all and leaves the existing file alone if there was no change.
and they radically simplified the markup, which made it most accessible.
and they created (third good thing) a modular architecture with a.well defined easily parsable intermediate textual representation to pipe text and code chunks through whichever utilities you want, for syntax highlighting, indexing, whatever.
and then, of all options, they chose the icon language for a reimplementation. from awk and c, available anywhere, to iconoclastic icon. bummer...
yes, it would --- noweb did two things right: they created a helper utility, `cpif`, which checks if a tangled file has changed at all and leaves the existing file alone if there was no change.
and they radically simplified the markup, which made it most accessible.
and they created (third good thing) a modular architecture with a.well defined easily parsable intermediate textual representation to pipe text and code chunks through whichever utilities you want, for syntax highlighting, indexing, whatever.
and then, of all options, they chose the icon language for a reimplementation. from awk and c, available anywhere, to iconoclastic icon. bummer...