Subj : Re: Doc/noDoc?
To   : comp.programming,comp.software-eng
From : Ben Pfaff
Date : Wed Sep 14 2005 10:12 am

rem642b@Yahoo.Com (Robert Maas, see http://tinyurl.com/uh3t) writes:

> Given that TeX is rather inscrutable, since it's based not on the
> nested structure of math expressions and the semantic meaning of the
> atoms, but rather on the manual shifts to superscript and subscript
> that would be present in a linearized sequence of typewriter actions
> and the particular font used to represent each atom, how can TeX by
> itself (without compiling it to printable format) be acceptable
> documentation?

Interesting question.  I have a partial answer: some text editors
can substitute TeX source for formulas with the rendered formula
in-place.  For example, GNU Emacs with the preview-latex
extension can do this.  To my knowledge this feature has not been
combined with programming language editing modes, but it would be
a fun experiment to try it.
-- 
"Writing is easy.
 All you do is sit in front of a typewriter and open a vein."
--Walter Smith

.