Re: [MIT-Scheme-devel] help with tracing

[Catonano]

Matt,

2014-11-18 9:26 GMT+01:00 Matt Birkholz <address@hidden>:

> From: Catonano <address@hidden>
> Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 09:49:33 +0100
>
> [...]
> The Edwin debugger is what I wanted to show, I think it´s better

I guess I have been hacking Edwin and the ticklish side of the runtime
system for so long I forget that Edwin has a debugger.  I can't really
use a stepper either.

There are both ! The stepper is not documented, though ! I found a hint to that in an outdated document !

Here, precisely
http://sicp.csail.mit.edu/Spring-2005/manuals/dontpanicnew.html#SEC28

As you can see it's a 2001 document !

 

 

> I was expecting one integrated thing containing both the Edwin
> debugger AND the stepper. So that I could have see the calls, with
> the code highlighted AND I could have stepped to see the following
> phase.

You're thinking of C.  There's a program called gdb that does just
what you are looking for. :-}

Indeed ;-)
 

> I showed them both, anyway, with a discreet success. I've been asked
> a youtube screencast to reinforce the point ;-)

If you are trying to convince people that they can use Scheme like a
self-dissecting gdb, you're dooming them to frustration.

I just wanted to provide sensory proof of the substitution model.

I don't want them to believe that it's just a castle of cards I ask them to play, but rather it has a role in what the machine actually does !

I can't be too abstract with them, their level is elementary.

And by the way, I feel it's important to instill mechanical automatism in them, as it could turn out to be useful, should they ever run into formal study of the lambda calculus. Or even into informal attempts at comprehension.

It's just a matter of being honest to disciples !

And coming to honesty, I think I'll include a flash on your email in my screencast ;-)

Thanks, anyway !