Interactive programming

[Jacek Generowicz]

hungjunglu at yahoo.com (Hung Jung Lu) writes:

> 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.