LIMODS Requirements

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As I've done in presenting the other utilities in this book, I'll start with the requirements I set out for myself in writing LIMODS before I talk about its usage and implementation. As you can see from the following list, simplicity was a key requirement. The simpler a development tool is to use, the more likely developers are to use it.

• To use LIMODS, the user should have to make only minimal source code changes. Ideally, I wanted LIMODS to require only a single-line change to a user's program.
• LIMODS keeps out of the way and automatically takes care of initializing itself so that users don't have to do any work other than just include LIMODS in their projects.
• LIMODS has a simple user interface that lets users quickly and easily pick the source files from which they want to see trace statements.

Before I jump into the implementation of LIMODS, I want to explain how you use it. Understanding LIMODS usage will make implementing it that much easier.