From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Erik Iverson Subject: Re: [org-babel] Does org-babel needs some simplification? Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2010 23:28:55 -0500 Message-ID: <4C297687.5080806@ccbr.umn.edu> References: <4C296DDA.1080109@gmail.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Return-path: Received: from [140.186.70.92] (port=48602 helo=eggs.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1OTSQo-0000hP-6t for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Tue, 29 Jun 2010 00:28:23 -0400 Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1OTSQk-0001nN-CQ for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Tue, 29 Jun 2010 00:28:19 -0400 Received: from pegasus.biostat.wisc.edu ([144.92.73.35]:40878) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1OTSQk-0001nF-6A for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Tue, 29 Jun 2010 00:28:18 -0400 In-Reply-To: <4C296DDA.1080109@gmail.com> List-Id: "General discussions about Org-mode." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Errors-To: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org To: Torsten Wagner Cc: Org Mode List Hello! > > Whenever I come back to org-babel, it takes me a huge amount of time to > find myself back again in the syntax. Often I spend a day or two heavily > reading the website and manual again to figure out how to make it working. > > There are so many options. tangle files, results, scripting mode, > sessions, noweb, lot, etc. > > Just yesterday, I fighted again to make a simple python script running > as desired to generate an automatic report. I did this dozen of times > and even by using some old report as template I still struggle with it. > Comparing old reports I noticed that I did it in many different ways. > Tangeling all snipplets, using noweb syntax, with and without session > support, etc. I have not used it for Python, but for R coding I've found it incredibly intuitive. However, that might be because R has long supported literate programming through Sweave, complete with noweb syntax and code tangling. I personally don't think it's too complex. One thing that could help is a gentle introduction written by users of each language that babel supports. I have started something like that with R already on my blog, see http://blogisticreflections.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/introduction-to-using-r-with-org-babel-part-1/ I think the best thing to do is to figure out a system that works for you, and document it (in org-mode of course!) so that there are notes the next time you come back to the file, or need to produce a new file. Of course, the authors of babel might have plans to somehow simplify syntax, but I just wanted to point out that, like anything, with some repetition, you can commit the main ideas to memory and then consult the manual when needed. I found that spending a couple hours running all the possible options in the manual with R while taking notes went a long way in helping me understand how it it all works. Best Regards, Erik