example 1:
meta: ExpandComparators
if a < b < c < d < e
puts “a < b < c < d < e”
end
meta: End
becomes:
if ((a < b) && (b < c) && (c < d) && (d < e))
puts “a < b < c < d < e”
end
obviously useful if you are doing this sort of comparison a lot.
Another example:
ruby compileMeta.rb –fixToS myProgram.rb (this doesn’t even need to be run on a “rbm” – ruby meta – file)
will turn, for example:
puts “testVal: “ + 1 + “!=” + 2
into:
puts “testVal: ” + 1.to_s + “!=” + 2.to_s
—
Now, that last example might not seem like much, but consider:
1.) It is an unambiguous error (i.e. there is nothing else that could POSSIBLY be going on)
2.) I make it a lot
3.) This can be just one of many possible unambiguous and common errors that I make – I can have a flag like –fixMyErrors so that the call to the ruby interpreter becomes:
ruby compileMeta.rb –fixMyErrors myErrorFile.rb myProgram.rb
myErrorFile.rb can also do more intelligent things like check parens.
—
One final possible counter-argument is that this functionality could be replaced with a good IDE. Nonsense! First, show me a good IDE. Second, now that you’ve shown me Emacs, does it have a good, easy-to-use way of implementing these kinds of changes? Is it ruby-specific? Oh, I have to know Lisp? So I have to learn Lisp to write Ruby?
Anyway, I am continuing to try to justify this time-sink, as you can tell.
