In the world of literate programming, the emphasis should be on ordering code for readability rather than typesetting for aesthetics. The legacy of literate programming has been dominated by systems focused on generating beautifully typeset documentation but neglecting the author’s ability to order the code freely. This approach hinders the reader’s understanding by jumping across abstraction layers and failing to motivate problems effectively. The static nature of beautifully typeset documentation makes it impractical for interactive use, whereas simple plain-text documentation allows for easy modifications and experimentation. Overall, the true potential of literate programming has been overlooked due to a misguided focus on presentation over content.
https://akkartik.name/post/literate-programming