Interactive programming

[Hung Jung Lu]

Hi,

Is there a term for the ability of changing program code without the
need of restarting the program? I mean, the most typical developer's
cycle is:

(a) write code
(b) set break points, start the program
(c) find bug, change code, goto (b)

I know some environments allow you to modify the code, and resume
execution, without having to restart your program from the very
beginning. Some terms I have heard are "interactive programming",
"edit-and-resume", etc. But is there standard name for this feature?

regards,

Hung Jung

 

[Jacek Generowicz]

Hi,

Is there a term for the ability of changing program code without the
need of restarting the program? I mean, the most typical developer's
cycle is:

(a) write code
(b) set break points, start the program
(c) find bug, change code, goto (b)

Typical, if you are unfrotunate enough to be programming in a very
limited language or environment.

I know some environments allow you to modify the code, and resume
execution, without having to restart your program from the very
beginning.

Lots ... Python, Forth, Smalltalk, Common Lisp ...

The last even allows you te resume almost exactly from the point at
which your error (or breakpoint) occurred.

Some terms I have heard are "interactive programming",
"edit-and-resume", etc. But is there standard name for this feature?

Incremental ?

I think that "incremental compilation" is typically used to describe
the ability to compile a single function at a time, and the ability to
replace a single function in your (running) program. (Apple's XCode
apparently brings this ability to C++, but I haven't any first-hand
experience with it.)

I certainly refer to it as "incremental development", but I'm not
entirely sure where I picked up this term.