Normlit

I'm sick of having to decide if I want a literate version of a program or if I want the normal version. Changing the format after writing the program is a pain in the arse.

Now, I don't have to decide.

Example

Normlit expects a file with a n prefixed on to the normal file extension (Normlit Haskell, maybe). For example, instead of creating foo.hs or foo.lhscreate foo.nhs.

In Normlit, a block of text that represents code should have -- Code on a separate line before the code. A block of text that represents a comment should have -- Comment. For example, here's the contents of simple.nhs:

-- Code
module Simple where

data Bool = True
          | False
          deriving (Eq, Read, Show)

-- Comment
This is a comment

To convert this into the literate form, run: ./normlit Literate simple.nhs

This will create simple.lhs with content:

> module Simple where

> data Bool = True
>           | False
>           deriving (Eq, Read, Show)

This is a comment

If you prefer the normal file format, run: ./normlit Normal simple.nhs. This creates simple.hs with content:

module Simple where

data Bool = True
          | False
          deriving (Eq, Read, Show)

-- This is a comment

Building the project

ghc --make -O2 Normlit.hs -o normlit

Running

./normlit Normal foo.nhs

./normlit Literate foo.nhs

Required work

• Use proper command line arguments. -l for literate mode, default to normal mode
• Alternative to -- <mode> to signify a block type. Since -- starts a Haskell (& friends) style comment, it would be nice if this was configurable so that other languages with literate forms can be output.