programming-for-dummies

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Automating Software Engineering with CASE
1. Design a program in a specific format, such as a UML diagram.
2. Feed that model (UML diagram) in to the code generator.
The code generator cranks out working code in a specific programming
language.
3. Modify or compile this source code and have a working program that
accurately reflects your original design.
If you change your design, the code generator can crank out new code based
on your revised design. Code generators keep your design and code synchronized.
In the early days of computers when people had to write programs in assembly
language, compilers were considered code generators because you could
give them source code written in a language, like FORTRAN or COBOL, and
the compilers would generate the proper machine language commands from
that source code.
Formatting source code automatically
If you write a program by yourself, the source code for your entire program
likely looks consistent. However, if you’re working on a large program with
multiple programmers, every programmer has his or her own unique style.
Ultimately, the program may work, but it resembles a patchwork collection
of code where each chunk of code can look completely different even if the
entire program is written in the same programming language, as shown in
Figure 5-6.
To solve this problem, computer scientists have created source code formatters.
These programs rearrange the appearance of source code so that it
appears uniform. Now instead of looking at a patchwork collection of code
written by different programmers, an entire large program can look like it
was written in a single style.
By looking at source code that’s formatted the same, programmers can
easily read and understand the entire program.