[unix-history] / usr / doc / eqn / e7

.NH
Conclusions
.PP
We think we have shown that it is possible
to do acceptably good typesetting of mathematics
on a phototypesetter,
with an input language that is easy to learn and use and
that satisfies many users' demands.
Such a package can be implemented in
short order,
given a compiler-compiler and
a decent typesetting program underneath.
.PP
Defining a language, and building a compiler for it
with a compiler-compiler
seems like the only sensible way to do business.
Our experience with the use of
a grammar and a compiler-compiler has been
uniformly favorable.
If we had written everything into code directly,
we would have been locked into
our original design.
Furthermore, we would have never been sure
where the exceptions and special cases were.
But because we have a grammar, we can change our minds readily and still be reasonably
sure that if a construction works in one place
it will work everywhere.
.SH
Acknowledgements
.PP
We are deeply indebted to
J. F. Ossanna,
the author of
.UC TROFF ,
for his willingness to modify
.UC TROFF
to make our task easier
and for his continuous assistance
during the development of our program.
We are also grateful to
A. V. Aho for help with language theory,
to S. C. Johnson for aid with the compiler-compiler,
and to our early users
A. V. Aho, S. I. Feldman, S. C. Johnson,
R. W. Hamming,
and M. D. McIlroy
for their constructive criticisms.
.SH
References
.IP [1]
.ul
A Manual of Style,
12th Edition.
University of Chicago Press, 1969. p 295.
.IP [2]
.ul
Model C/A/T Phototypesetter.
Graphic Systems, Inc.,
Hudson, N. H.
.IP [3]
Ritchie, D. M., and Thompson, K. L.,
``The UNIX time-sharing system.''
\fIComm. ACM 17,\fR 7 (July 1974), 365-375.
.IP [4]
Ossanna, J. F.,
TROFF User's Manual.
Bell Laboratories Computing Science Technical Report 54, 1977.
.IP [5]
Aho, A. V., and Johnson, S. C.,
``LR Parsing.''
\fIComp. Surv. 6,\fR 2 (June 1974), 99-124.
.br
.IP [6]
B. W. Kernighan and D. M. Ritchie,
.ul
The C Programming Language.
Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1978.
Commit	Line	Data
8340f87c BJ	1	.NH
	2	Conclusions
	3	.PP
	4	We think we have shown that it is possible
	5	to do acceptably good typesetting of mathematics
	6	on a phototypesetter,
	7	with an input language that is easy to learn and use and
	8	that satisfies many users' demands.
	9	Such a package can be implemented in
	10	short order,
	11	given a compiler-compiler and
	12	a decent typesetting program underneath.
	13	.PP
	14	Defining a language, and building a compiler for it
	15	with a compiler-compiler
	16	seems like the only sensible way to do business.
	17	Our experience with the use of
	18	a grammar and a compiler-compiler has been
	19	uniformly favorable.
	20	If we had written everything into code directly,
	21	we would have been locked into
	22	our original design.
	23	Furthermore, we would have never been sure
	24	where the exceptions and special cases were.
	25	But because we have a grammar, we can change our minds readily and still be reasonably
	26	sure that if a construction works in one place
	27	it will work everywhere.
	28	.SH
	29	Acknowledgements
	30	.PP
	31	We are deeply indebted to
	32	J. F. Ossanna,
	33	the author of
	34	.UC TROFF ,
	35	for his willingness to modify
	36	.UC TROFF
	37	to make our task easier
	38	and for his continuous assistance
	39	during the development of our program.
	40	We are also grateful to
	41	A. V. Aho for help with language theory,
	42	to S. C. Johnson for aid with the compiler-compiler,
	43	and to our early users
	44	A. V. Aho, S. I. Feldman, S. C. Johnson,
	45	R. W. Hamming,
	46	and M. D. McIlroy
	47	for their constructive criticisms.
	48	.SH
	49	References
	50	.IP [1]
	51	.ul
	52	A Manual of Style,
	53	12th Edition.
	54	University of Chicago Press, 1969. p 295.
	55	.IP [2]
	56	.ul
	57	Model C/A/T Phototypesetter.
	58	Graphic Systems, Inc.,
	59	Hudson, N. H.
	60	.IP [3]
	61	Ritchie, D. M., and Thompson, K. L.,
	62	``The UNIX time-sharing system.''
	63	\fIComm. ACM 17,\fR 7 (July 1974), 365-375.
	64	.IP [4]
65	Ossanna, J. F.,
66	TROFF User's Manual.
67	Bell Laboratories Computing Science Technical Report 54, 1977.
68	.IP [5]
69	Aho, A. V., and Johnson, S. C.,
70	``LR Parsing.''
71	\fIComp. Surv. 6,\fR 2 (June 1974), 99-124.
72	.br
73	.IP [6]
74	B. W. Kernighan and D. M. Ritchie,
75	.ul
76	The C Programming Language.
77	Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1978.