Visual programming language
Visual programming language (VPL) is any programming language that lets users specify programs by manipulating program elements graphically rather than by specifying them textually. A VPL allows programming with visual expressions, spatial arrangements of text and graphic symbols. Most VPLs are based on the idea of "boxes and arrows," that is, boxes or circles or bubbles, treated as screen objects, connected by arrows, lines or arcs. Non Visual Programming languages are completely based on text, when using non VPL applications it is impossible to see images until the program is run. This is a disadvantage to programmers as the user is unable to see the results of their coding unless the program is run.
VPLs may be further classified, according to the type and extent of visual expression used, into icon-based languages, form-based languages, and diagram languages. Visual programming environments provide graphical or iconic elements which can be manipulated by users in an interactive way according to some specific spatial grammar for program construction.
A visually transformed language is a non-visual language with a superimposed visual representation. Naturally visual languages have an inherent visual expression for which there is no obvious textual equivalent.
Current developments try to integrate the visual programming approach with dataflow languages to either have immediate access to the program state resulting in online debugging (i.e. LabVIEW) or automatic program generation and documentation (i.e. visual paradigm). Dataflow languages also allow automatic parallelization, which is likely to become one of the greatest programming challenges of the future.
Visual languages
- actor-lab, a parallel, object-orientated control language designed to introduce the ideas of control technology and robotics.
- AgentSheets, easy to use game authoring and computational science authoring tool
- Alice (software)
- Analytica
- Automator
- Behave!, part of the Virtual Fishtank at the Boston Computer Museum at [1]
- CDL (Concurrent Description Language), a machine-translatable, composable, object-oriented, visual programming language.
- Circuit maker
- CODE
- Some Dataflow languages
- EyesWeb
- Fabrik
- Flow, a commercial visual programming language from webMethods Inc.
- Flow-based programming
- Graphic-Calculus, an experimental formulation of lambda calculus in terms of three-dimensional cubes
- GraphicalAccess, a shareware visual programming add-in for MS Visio, which diagrams and allows visual programming of MS Access databases.GraphicalAccess
- Hyperpascal
- LabVIEW
- Ladder logic, a programming language that simulates relay logic commonly used in Programmable logic controllers
- Limnor
- Max/MSP
- Mindscript - software visualization and development environment
- OutSystems Service Studio, a commercial visual programming environment from OutSystems
- Pict
- Prograph
- Proto Financial, a commercial flow based visual programming language from Proto Software, Inc.
- Pure Data
- Quartz Composer
- Quest3D
- SCADE
- Self
- Simulink
- Spreadsheets
- Squeak eToys scripting
- Stagecast Creator, formerly Apple's Cocoa
- Subtext
- Tersus
- ThingLab
- Tinkertoy
- VEE
- VisSim
- Visula
- VVVV
Note: Microsoft Visual Studio and the languages it encompases (Visual Basic, Visual C#, Visual J#, etc.) are commonly confused to be but are not visual programming languages. All of these languages are textual and not graphical.
External links
- Usenet newsgroup: comp.lang.visual (NOT for Visual Basic or Visual C++).
- Sanscript
- Visual paradigm
- Visula
- Flow-Based Programming
See also
This article was originally based on material from the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, used with permission. Update as needed.