I think lossless roundtripping with a textual representation is essential if node-based tools want to escape the local minima they all seem to get trapped in.

I think lossless roundtripping with a textual representation is essential if node-based tools want to escape the local minima they all seem to get trapped in. Either that or the ability to use 3rd party editors so competion and innovation can happen in the same way it has for textual code editors.