Traditional Literate Programming: A Visual Guide
1. Core Concepts
Literate Programming, invented by Donald Knuth, treats programs as works of literature. The key insight: programs should be written for humans to read, with code and documentation interwoven.
2. The WEB System Architecture
Knuth’s original WEB system for Pascal:
3. Chunk Definition and Reference
The heart of literate programming - named code chunks:
4. Noweb System Flow
Norman Ramsey’s noweb - a simpler, language-agnostic approach:
5. Code Chunk Dependency Graph
How chunks reference each other:
6. Tangle Algorithm
The process of extracting code:
7. Weave Processing
Creating formatted documentation:
8. Org-mode Babel System
Modern literate programming in Emacs:
9. Language-Specific Tangling
How different languages handle chunk expansion:
10. Literate Programming Workflow
The complete development cycle:
11. Chunk Reuse Patterns
Common patterns for chunk organization:
12. Error Handling in Literate Systems
How errors propagate through the literate programming pipeline:
13. Modern Literate Programming Tools
Evolution and relationships:
Key Concepts Summary
Tangle
- Extracts code from literate source
- Resolves chunk references
- Produces compilable source files
- Preserves language-specific formatting
Weave
- Formats literate source for reading
- Generates documentation
- Creates cross-references
- Produces typeset output
Chunks
- Named sections of code
- Can be referenced and reused
- Support incremental refinement
- Language-agnostic in modern systems
Benefits
- Documentation and code stay synchronized
- Natural program organization
- Encourages thorough explanation
- Supports multiple output formats