4 ms·

Fabrik – A Visual Programming Environment (1988)

54 points by panic 10y ago

nikki93 10y ago
Haha, this is very much like Reaktor 6 'blocks', esp. the "user frame" stuff. https://youtu.be/yl_VXrTET7k https://youtu.be/yl_VXrTET7k
dangoor 10y ago
See also Lively Fabrik: http://www.lively-kernel.org/repository/lively-wiki/Fabrik.xhtml http://www.lively-kernel.org/repository/lively-wiki/Fabrik.x...
panic 10y ago
Experience with Fabrik suggests that a successful visual programming kit requires only three things: Specification of an effective visual and computational interface for each component, interactive access to an interesting (network) library of existing components, and the ability to use and combine these components interactively to build new library components and finished applications. To maybe get some discussion going: are there any programming kits today that have all three of these attributes?
- clouddrover 10y ago
  > are there any programming kits today that have all three of these attributes? While not a fully visual development environment, I'd say Delphi. I think they got the design right 21 years ago. They struck the right balance between visual and non-visual development and married that to a language (Object Pascal) which had fast compilation, directness, and simplicity while also offering low-level capability. Chuck Jazdzewski was one of the original Delphi developers. Last year he wrote a series of articles on the early days of Delphi: http://removingalldoubt.com/ http://removingalldoubt.com/ It's a shame Object Pascal isn't more widely used. It's a nice language. Maybe Free Pascal (http://www.freepascal.org http://www.freepascal.org) and Lazarus (http://www.lazarus-ide.org/ http://www.lazarus-ide.org/) can spread the Pascal gospel.
  - boduh 10y ago
    The articles from Chuck Jazdzewski made my day. I sometimes wonder what the early members of the Delphi team are working on today. Thanks for sharing the link!
- frou_dh 10y ago
  Unreal Engine 4's "Blueprint" scripting system is the most impressive visual programming system I've seen. It's easy to ignore for many because it's just some videogame thing, but the editor application is very substantial (as is its compatibility with the textual programming side), and the concepts within pretty general.
  - kowdermeister 10y ago
    I'm sure in the near future someone will take that concept and apply it to the web. For example each node can be a React component. I've seen some attempts before but they sucked for one reason or another.
    - tyleo 10y ago
      I have been doing this for awhile as my side project. I have JavaScript frontend (react) communicating with a rust backend. The rust backend loads Dlls which provide functionality to the JavaScript. The idea is that the graphs will be useful for multiple things by loading different Dlls. For instance, in one case a graph may represent a build system, in another it may represent some logic in a game, and in yet another it may represent some components hooked up to a microcontroller. The backend can also be run as a command line interface and supports a small built-in lisp interpreter allowing developers to automate common tasks or debug.
      - kowdermeister 10y ago
        Nice, can I subscribe follow somewhere if you plan to release it?
- kowdermeister 10y ago
  Max is mostly for music applications and installations https://cycling74.com/products/max/ https://cycling74.com/products/max/
- taneq 10y ago
  Function Block Diagram (FBD) programming for PLCs is basically this.
- DonaldFisk 10y ago
  I'm still working on Full Metal Jacket: http://web.onetel.com/~hibou/fmj/FMJ.html http://web.onetel.com/~hibou/fmj/FMJ.html If you want to dive in, there are tutorials: http://web.onetel.com/~hibou/fmj/tutorials/TOC.html http://web.onetel.com/~hibou/fmj/tutorials/TOC.html Once it's ready, I'll release it, probably on a shared-source licence.
  - vmorgulis 10y ago
    Very cool! Posted here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12106259 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12106259
- wlievens 10y ago
  LabVIEW would be one, though I'm by no means a fan of it.
speps 10y ago
That looks a LOT like PureData : http://en.flossmanuals.net/pure-data/introduction/graphical-programming/ http://en.flossmanuals.net/pure-data/introduction/graphical-...
spacemanmatt 10y ago
Talend also offers a visual programming environment, and I would rather write code any day. If your programming work is simple, and you don't care about conditionals, logging, or error handling, it makes some tasks easier. The second it doesn't make your task easier, it makes it much harder than programming with code.
setori88 10y ago
Take a look at Fractalide http://github.com/fractalide/fractalide http://github.com/fractalide/fractalide It uses Nix Expressions to lazily coordinate the building and port linking of components.

54 points by panic 10y ago

Haha, this is very much like Reaktor 6 'blocks', esp. the "user frame" stuff. https://youtu.be/yl_VXrTET7k https://youtu.be/yl_VXrTET7k

dangoor 10y ago

See also Lively Fabrik: http://www.lively-kernel.org/repository/lively-wiki/Fabrik.xhtml http://www.lively-kernel.org/repository/lively-wiki/Fabrik.x...

panic 10y ago

Experience with Fabrik suggests that a successful visual programming kit requires only three things: Specification of an effective visual and computational interface for each component, interactive access to an interesting (network) library of existing components, and the ability to use and combine these components interactively to build new library components and finished applications. To maybe get some discussion going: are there any programming kits today that have all three of these attributes?

clouddrover 10y ago
> are there any programming kits today that have all three of these attributes? While not a fully visual development environment, I'd say Delphi. I think they got the design right 21 years ago. They struck the right balance between visual and non-visual development and married that to a language (Object Pascal) which had fast compilation, directness, and simplicity while also offering low-level capability. Chuck Jazdzewski was one of the original Delphi developers. Last year he wrote a series of articles on the early days of Delphi: http://removingalldoubt.com/ http://removingalldoubt.com/ It's a shame Object Pascal isn't more widely used. It's a nice language. Maybe Free Pascal (http://www.freepascal.org http://www.freepascal.org) and Lazarus (http://www.lazarus-ide.org/ http://www.lazarus-ide.org/) can spread the Pascal gospel.
- boduh 10y ago
  The articles from Chuck Jazdzewski made my day. I sometimes wonder what the early members of the Delphi team are working on today. Thanks for sharing the link!
frou_dh 10y ago
Unreal Engine 4's "Blueprint" scripting system is the most impressive visual programming system I've seen. It's easy to ignore for many because it's just some videogame thing, but the editor application is very substantial (as is its compatibility with the textual programming side), and the concepts within pretty general.
- kowdermeister 10y ago
  I'm sure in the near future someone will take that concept and apply it to the web. For example each node can be a React component. I've seen some attempts before but they sucked for one reason or another.
  - tyleo 10y ago
    I have been doing this for awhile as my side project. I have JavaScript frontend (react) communicating with a rust backend. The rust backend loads Dlls which provide functionality to the JavaScript. The idea is that the graphs will be useful for multiple things by loading different Dlls. For instance, in one case a graph may represent a build system, in another it may represent some logic in a game, and in yet another it may represent some components hooked up to a microcontroller. The backend can also be run as a command line interface and supports a small built-in lisp interpreter allowing developers to automate common tasks or debug.
    - kowdermeister 10y ago
      Nice, can I subscribe follow somewhere if you plan to release it?
kowdermeister 10y ago
Max is mostly for music applications and installations https://cycling74.com/products/max/ https://cycling74.com/products/max/
taneq 10y ago
Function Block Diagram (FBD) programming for PLCs is basically this.
DonaldFisk 10y ago
I'm still working on Full Metal Jacket: http://web.onetel.com/~hibou/fmj/FMJ.html http://web.onetel.com/~hibou/fmj/FMJ.html If you want to dive in, there are tutorials: http://web.onetel.com/~hibou/fmj/tutorials/TOC.html http://web.onetel.com/~hibou/fmj/tutorials/TOC.html Once it's ready, I'll release it, probably on a shared-source licence.
- vmorgulis 10y ago
  Very cool! Posted here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12106259 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12106259
wlievens 10y ago
LabVIEW would be one, though I'm by no means a fan of it.

speps 10y ago

That looks a LOT like PureData : http://en.flossmanuals.net/pure-data/introduction/graphical-programming/ http://en.flossmanuals.net/pure-data/introduction/graphical-...

spacemanmatt 10y ago

Talend also offers a visual programming environment, and I would rather write code any day. If your programming work is simple, and you don't care about conditionals, logging, or error handling, it makes some tasks easier. The second it doesn't make your task easier, it makes it much harder than programming with code.

setori88 10y ago

Take a look at Fractalide http://github.com/fractalide/fractalide http://github.com/fractalide/fractalide It uses Nix Expressions to lazily coordinate the building and port linking of components.