There have been a few attempts at visual programming languages. None that have really panned out to the mainstream but I don't think that's a failure of the ide

There have been a few attempts at visual programming languages. None that have really panned out to the mainstream but I don't think that's a failure of the idea entirely. Some things like complex spreadsheets or MS Access applications have clear analogies to programming but are more visual in nature. And there are things like Mac's Automater that have a lot of theoretical potential. Some things like bash pipelines could be really amenable to a more visual style as well