SoftwareTools

Copyright (c) 2013 by Robert L. Bocchino Jr.

1. Introduction

This is an implementation in C of the programs in the classic text Software Tools by Brian W. Kernighan and P.J. Plauger (Addison-Wesley 1976). So far I have implemented the programs from the first three chapters, except for the programs that drive line printers.

2. Code Organization and Style

Organization

The code lives in two directories:

1. lib contains code that is (or potentially could be) reused across different tools.

2. tools contains the tools themselves.

I used my judgment to decide which code to put where. I may change my mind as I work through more of the book.

Each of the directories lib and tools has a subdirectory tests containing tests.

Style

The code is not idiomatic C; instead, it attempts to mimic the style of the programs in the book (written in a Fortran dialect called Rational Fortran, or Ratfor) as closely as possible, while writing in C. For example:

1. Arrays are indexed from 1, not 0.

2. Pointers are used only where necessary to mimic the behavior of global variables in the original code.

3. Control constructs are generally similar to C, but several (repeat, until, etc.) are different.

I have used C macros to assist the translation process.

I find this coding style natural for programs that don't require pointer manipulation.

3. Building and Running

Dependencies

To build and run the code, you'll need to install the following software:

1. A UNIX command line and standard UNIX tools.

2. The fish shell.

3. The redo build tool.

If you are on a Mac and using MacPorts, you can get both by issuing the commands

sudo port install fish
sudo port install redo

on the command line.

Compiler

The build system assumes you have clang installed on your system. If you don't (or you'd rather use gcc), then edit params.fish in the top-level directory to replace clang with gcc.

Building

To build everything, issue the command redo from the top-level directory. You can also issue redo in the lib or tools directory to build just the library or the tools. However, you have to build the library before building the tools.

To remove the generated files, issue the command redo clean.

Running

To run the tests, issue the command redo test from the top-level directory. You can also issue redo test in the lib or tools directory to run just the library or tools tests.