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An even more radical argument is that programming languages have to break free from the tyranny of text. That is, they should be represented by a internal stru
by mellis 16y ago
An even more radical argument is that programming languages have to break free from the tyranny of text. That is, they should be represented by a internal structure that can be edited through a variety of representations (graphical or textual). Various visual programming languages take this approach, but most don't scale to large, complex programs. See subtextual.org for some interesting work in this direction (not mine).
- sudont 16y agoDear god, please don't let swordfish be right about "hacking."
- Groxx 16y agoI'll have to play the ubiquitous "abstractions leak" card. Moving to this sort of setup will result in a) conflicting representations, b) significantly slower code, or c) epic frameworks on the order of all-of-CPAN with tens of thousands of things you must know to be even remotely efficient. Barring a Sufficiently Advanced Compiler, of course, but until one exists (and puts all of us out of a job) optimization is still frequently important.
- pshc 16y agoThis. The main hurdle is actually a UI problem: How do you make a structure editor with the ease of use of a text editor?