Mini-indexes for literate programs

TL;DR

This paper introduces a documentation technique using mini-indexes that provide local identifiers on each two-page spread to aid understanding of large programs, demonstrated with a graph algorithm example.

Contribution

It presents a novel documentation method with local indexes for large programs, enhancing readability and comprehension.

Findings

Improves program understandability through local indexing.

Effective for complex algorithms like Hamiltonian circuit search.

Provides a practical example demonstrating the technique.

Abstract

This paper describes how to implement a documentation technique that helps readers to understand large programs or collections of programs, by providing local indexes to all identifiers that are visible on every two-page spread. A detailed example is given for a program that finds all Hamiltonian circuits in an undirected graph.