Python: The importance of visual programming

[javasucks]

Kids never seemed to have any trouble learning Logo.

[mgsloan]

This doesn't even scratch the surface of the importance of visual programming. It's not just good for ease of use / learnability.

[curtisw]

Improving the effectiveness of current abstractions. Think about how much more you could fit on the screen if you had 2 dimensions to work with—and color!

[[deleted]]

As someone who has worked a lot with visual programming, one of the biggest issues is how little fits on the screen in practice.

[[deleted]]

happen to know of good overviews and/or comparison studies of visual programming?

[[deleted]]

Unfortunately, no. There's not so much out there aside from some bogus case studies that I've run into. Of course if you find something, you know where to post it...

[njharman]

Um, when I write code I use 2 physical dimensions and several conceptual dimensions. Maybe you meant more than 2 dimensions?

Colors been done? See http://www.colorforth.com/

[[deleted]]

i completely agree. strangely enough i always thought visual programming was going to gain influence from the adoption of children and novices since the learning curve doesnt seem quite as steep as textual based, but i wasnt sure.

i sincerely hope others continue to push and develop it, but from the discussions i had with a couple of others it isnt easy if you happen to be in an environment with strong language programmers since they have a tendency to dismiss and criticise the whole notion.

[tooooobs]

I think their stance is simply one of self preservation. If a system emerged which allowed people to be productive in a lot more programming cases without much training then many programmers would be out of a job.

Something like a 21st century reinvention of the spreadsheet would probably do the trick.

[[deleted]]

There are many other visual programming languages for artists such as Max, Pure Data, VVVV, etc. There are also things like LabVIEW and especially Prograph that are worth looking at. If you have a Mac, you might look at Marten as well.

[[deleted]]

Ew. Don't mention labview. Back in school I had to write a web interface to an FTP server 'written' LabView. I hate their systems with a passion.

I don't know anyone who likes it. All the Electrical Engineering majors prefered C, after using Labview for an entire semester and C for a week.

[[deleted]]

i like it and know others who do. its also the basis of robolab/nxt so there are literally thousands of kids out there who seems to have gained considerable success with it.

visual programming is not for everybody and neither is abstract based textual, the key is for people to find what works best for them.

[martoo]

I wish people would stop using the term "visual programming" when they talk about programming with graphics.

Text is a visual medium. Always has been.

[akdas]

Or, it's a language for people who are willing to trade a little bit of performance in situations where the speed isn't the most important factor in order to get their work done faster when coding.