Interesting XCode Feature (OSX IDE)

Most modern compilers perform some level of static analysis in order to check for potential issues in the code (typically for bugs like attempting to access variables that have not been properly initialised).

XCode in its latest incarnation now offers a rather interesting 'graphical representation' of how the errors will be caused/triggered.

See the screen shots (courtesy Apple Dev. Doc.) -- with the blue lines generated by XCode in the IDE. These features are great for experienced developers, but absolutely fantastic when one is just starting to learn how to program. I also like the clearer messages that the tool is now showing -- this is a great advance compared to the typical cryptic messages that 'gcc' generates. A list of the improvements in terms of how errors are now reported is available at the following page: http://clang.llvm.org/diagnostics.html . If all goes well for LLVM/CLang -- the days of GCC may be numbered. Who knows ... C language may even be useful for teaching computer programming -- rather than its current purpose, which is to scare half the students out of computer science/IT.