5 ms·

There are some successful commercial products that use a visual graph model. MaxMSP [1] and Shake [2] (now discontinued) come to mind. You're right that it does

There are some successful commercial products that use a visual graph model. MaxMSP [1] and Shake [2] (now discontinued) come to mind. You're right that it doesn't scale well as a UI, however. [1] https://cycling74.com/products/max/ https://cycling74.com/products/max/ [2] https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/G/01/software/detail-page/shake4-1-lg-062506.jpg https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/G/01/software...

mastax 9y ago
Also: LabVIEW, Unreal Engine 4 Blueprints, and pretty much every Materials Editor I've seen.
- eriknstr 9y ago
  Unreal Engine 4 Blueprints are amazing from what I've seen, and show what a good visual editor can be capable of. LabVIEW is a PITA in my experience. That being said I have not invested very much time in LabVIEW but I have no motivation to either. I don't mean to flame, that's not the intention, but does anyone on HN actually think that LabVIEW is a comfortable and productive tool? If so, how and why?
  - rubidium 9y ago
    I used it for 6 years controlling a complex experimental apparatus for some physics experiments. It's great at getting out of your way and letting you focus on the results. It's definitely not a typical programming language. It's great for integrating off the shelf stuff from any major test equipment company. Flow a couple lines and boxes and you've got a PID circuit. Add a few more and you've got a real time oscilloscope. Add a few more and you have data logging. At some point you need to sit down and restructure to get it maintainable, but people who are good with it design it well from the start. It fits the test bench and small/mid-size experiment system very well.
JPKab 9y ago
See here for a modern product that leverages the visual graph model and is rapidly growing in adoption: https://www.alteryx.com/products/alteryx-designer https://www.alteryx.com/products/alteryx-designer

mastax 9y ago

Also: LabVIEW, Unreal Engine 4 Blueprints, and pretty much every Materials Editor I've seen.

eriknstr 9y ago
Unreal Engine 4 Blueprints are amazing from what I've seen, and show what a good visual editor can be capable of. LabVIEW is a PITA in my experience. That being said I have not invested very much time in LabVIEW but I have no motivation to either. I don't mean to flame, that's not the intention, but does anyone on HN actually think that LabVIEW is a comfortable and productive tool? If so, how and why?
- rubidium 9y ago
  I used it for 6 years controlling a complex experimental apparatus for some physics experiments. It's great at getting out of your way and letting you focus on the results. It's definitely not a typical programming language. It's great for integrating off the shelf stuff from any major test equipment company. Flow a couple lines and boxes and you've got a PID circuit. Add a few more and you've got a real time oscilloscope. Add a few more and you have data logging. At some point you need to sit down and restructure to get it maintainable, but people who are good with it design it well from the start. It fits the test bench and small/mid-size experiment system very well.

JPKab 9y ago

See here for a modern product that leverages the visual graph model and is rapidly growing in adoption: https://www.alteryx.com/products/alteryx-designer https://www.alteryx.com/products/alteryx-designer