XRe: Structure of objects and execution (with effects on visual programming, and reversible debugging, )

Mon Oct 26 04:24:54 UTC 1998

There are systems in which you edit parse trees directly, not source.
They are called "syntax directed editors".  The Cornell Program Synthesizer
was written about 18 years ago, and worked for PL/C.  Of course, Lisp
systems are even older, but this was the first system I know about that
worked on a language with a complex syntax.

Systems that only let you edit parse trees can be inflexible and a
pain in the neck.  The best systems let you do both.  This is sort
of what the Refactoring Browser does.

-Ralph