>> The basic premise is that when an editor knows about what source code is and >> does it can offer new views of it etc. >> >> Anyone got any views of their own? Yes. It's not a matter of being hard-core. The fundamental premise is that text is the only universal format. If you keep the 'data' in a 'database', then how do other tools reason on it? Only if they can read the format, of course. This tends to mean, "only if they're from the same vendor". Keeping your 'data' in a universally agreed format is important. I would contend that text is the only one for source code. Having structural information is important, but the common format must not thrown away in pursuit of it. The concept is in direct opposition to the toolset principle. But, in this case, the guy is actually promoting strict syntax directed editing, a well-worn-out concept. Under the section "Real World SCID Implementations", he says The usual reaction I get from programmers when I mention SCIDs is that they have tried them and they hate them. What they have tried are coding templates where you fill in the blanks. These stop you from coding in the old way, yet offer almost no payback. Granted SCIDs will force you to rethink how you compose programs. Code must at all times be 100% syntactically correct. However, a good SCID will pay back 100 fold for this inconvenience. If you try to import or paste code that is not correct, you will find much of it being turned into a special kind of comment 'Nuff said. You really don't want it. The last thing you want when in the middle of creating something is to have an editor forcing you to dot the I's and cross the t's. Composition of programs is not linear, in exactly the same way as a novelist might be writing the introduction, the guts, and the end all at the same time. So even if syntactically correct entry is an improvement over coding templates, they both force an uncomfortable approach which strangles creativity. The programmers aren't wrong, there is plenty of research to support this, and he shouldn't be so dismissive. Every so often someone ressurects this idea. In this case, despite his claim to have been promoting it since the 70's, he doesn't mention any of the classic research on the subject, which started at least as early as the 70's. Try reading papers on the Gandalf project as a starting point.