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I've got 2 decades of professional programming experience under my belt and I still think node graph editors are grand. I regularly use VFXGraph / Shadergraph

by MrLeap 2y ago

I've got 2 decades of professional programming experience under my belt and I still think node graph editors are grand. I regularly use VFXGraph / Shadergraph / Custom nodegraph editors for various gamedev things (e.g. dialog trees, checkpoint graphs, all sorts of things) I'm very defensive of my "repl latency". By that I mean, how much effort/time does it take for me to see the results of my change in action? Every node editor that's found its way into my workflow brings that latency down to real time. They provide much more information so much faster about every change you're making as you're making it. It's like a causality scope. If the widget you're tuning/iterating on benefits from that, they're a joy.

mistercow 2y ago
Isn’t that, again, specifically a benefit of being purely functional?
- MrLeap 2y ago
  To me, the way inputs and outputs are presented in nodegraph editors adds value on top of the benefits functional programming provides. You see the cascade of every change in real time. Change parameters and see every stage's new inputs and outputs as they're transformed. If I added Logger.Log calls to show as much info, my console would be a blur. I wouldn't be able to click on a parameter in my log and change its value and see what the consequences were. You can change values at a breakpoint, but that's a single moment in time. If your code's running at 60hz, breakpoints can feel like trying to solve a where's waldo through an electron microscope. I have not came across any workflow in my IDEs that is as flexible and informative for the situations where nodegraph editors shine. If something comes to mind for you, I'd love to know about it. There's no theoretical reason a text editor couldn't be made to show the same cross section of key information though. TempleOS is kind of like that lol.

by MrLeap 2y ago

mistercow 2y ago

Isn’t that, again, specifically a benefit of being purely functional?

MrLeap 2y ago
To me, the way inputs and outputs are presented in nodegraph editors adds value on top of the benefits functional programming provides. You see the cascade of every change in real time. Change parameters and see every stage's new inputs and outputs as they're transformed. If I added Logger.Log calls to show as much info, my console would be a blur. I wouldn't be able to click on a parameter in my log and change its value and see what the consequences were. You can change values at a breakpoint, but that's a single moment in time. If your code's running at 60hz, breakpoints can feel like trying to solve a where's waldo through an electron microscope. I have not came across any workflow in my IDEs that is as flexible and informative for the situations where nodegraph editors shine. If something comes to mind for you, I'd love to know about it. There's no theoretical reason a text editor couldn't be made to show the same cross section of key information though. TempleOS is kind of like that lol.