From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: weis Received: (from weis@localhost) by pauillac.inria.fr (8.7.6/8.7.3) id JAA10038 for caml-redistribution; Mon, 3 Feb 1997 09:00:19 +0100 (MET) Received: from concorde.inria.fr (concorde.inria.fr [192.93.2.39]) by pauillac.inria.fr (8.7.6/8.7.3) with ESMTP id QAA27023 for ; Fri, 31 Jan 1997 16:22:55 +0100 (MET) Received: from heaton.cl.cam.ac.uk (exim@heaton.cl.cam.ac.uk [128.232.32.11]) by concorde.inria.fr (8.7.6/8.7.3) with SMTP id QAA11009; Fri, 31 Jan 1997 16:22:35 +0100 (MET) Received: from cl.cam.ac.uk [128.232.0.96] (drs1004) by heaton.cl.cam.ac.uk with esmtp (Exim 1.59 #2) id 0vqKm3-0000UW-00; Fri, 31 Jan 1997 15:21:07 +0000 X-Mailer: exmh version 1.6.9+cl+PEM 96/8/21 To: Xavier Leroy cc: caml-list@inria.fr Subject: Re: ergonomie du compilateur In-reply-to: Your message of "Thu, 30 Jan 1997 10:55:19 +0100." <199701300955.KAA25223@pauillac.inria.fr> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Date: Fri, 31 Jan 1997 15:21:06 +0100 From: Donald Syme Message-Id: Sender: weis > > - There is no error recovery in the compiler. Before I start the > > first compile I have at least 5 syntax errors in the file. In > > order to find them I have to go through at least 5 edit-compile > > cycles, which I find very annoying. > > My experience with ML compilers that attempt error recovery is that > they usually get it wrong and report many spurious syntax errors after > the first actual error, which is even more annoying than stopping at > the first error. Perhaps that's because of the ML syntax, which > has fewer obvious resynchronization points than, say, C syntax. I've found the lack of error recovery (in Moscow ML) particularly tiresome when reporting mismatches between signatures and structures, and also when multiple undefined identifiers exist. Error recovery certainly improves productivity in these cases, from my experience with NJSML. I also think it helps with syntax, at least for the SML syntax. Cheers, Don Syme