perlmeditation
ailie
<p><b>part 1</b> - the information
<p>According to <i>[ISBN://1556154844|Code Complete]</i> (Steve McConnell, Microsoft Press, 1993),
program design language (PDL) was originally described in a paper published
by Caine and Gordon in 1975.
<p>Guidelines for effective use of PDL include:
<ul>
<li>Use English<sup>*</sup>-like statements that precisely describe
specific operations<br>
<sup>*</sup>or other spoken language
<li>Avoid synatic elements from the target programming language. Thinking
in programming language constructs eliminates the main benefit of design at
a higher level.
<li>Write at the level of intent. Describe the meaning of the approach,
rather than how the approach will be implemented in the particular
programming language.
<li>Write PDL at a low enough level that generating code from it will be
nearly automatic.
</ul>
<p>Benefits from using PDL:
<ul>
<li>Reviews are easier - no need to examine source code.
<li>PDL supports iterative refinement - successive refinement in small
steps allows you to check design as you get more detailed.
<li>Changes are easier.
<li>Commenting is done for you - turn the PDL into comments.
<li>PDL is an easy-to-maintain form of design documentation.
</ul>
<p><b>part 2</b> - the query
<p>This PDL stuff sounds pretty good to me - maybe it's just new to me
because I don't have any formal programming training. My background is in
science, and I picked up any "programming knowledge" I might possess as the
situations presented themselves.
<p>I'm wondering, is PDL something that people actually use?