Macro Processor for Efficient Program Production.
Abstract
The usefulness of a macro based Extensible Programming System (EPS) was evaluated experimentally. The ratio between the costs of solving a problem using assembly and an EPS implemented problem oriented language was measured. The costs of implementation of the special purpose language were high, but justifiable when high usage is expected. The process of language implementation with EPS was analyzed through 4 x 2 implementations of a subset of the COURSEWRITER language using both EPS and PL/1. EPS proved considerably more fitted than PL/1 for this purpose. The principal bottleneck in the use of EPS is the primitive macro time language, which is typical for current macro systems. In the experiments, the effect due to the differences between the abilities of the participants was avoided by comparing the time that the same person used with different systems. With these techniques, however, time measured for the system used first includes problem learning. This bias was to some extent corrected with a technique based on the mathematical model employed. The techniques developed for comparing programming systems were not completely satisfactory but seem to deserve a further development.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1974
- Accession Number
- ADA009053
Entities
Organizations
- Technion – Israel Institute of Technology