I'm skeptical because I don't see how visual programming models are even possible for the type of development I routinely perform (my day job is writing a high-

I'm skeptical because I don't see how visual programming models are even possible for the type of development I routinely perform (my day job is writing a high-performance distributed, parallel implementation of the well-known 'make' tool). Even if it is theoretically possible, for some parts of my project, I imagine it would take nearly as long to create the visual programming environment, and I'm not sure it would be particularly reusable. I loved Bret Victor's talk. And this recursive drawing thing is neat too. But both of those are dealing with programs that are primarily visual in their own output. I can't help but think, "That's neat, but not broadly applicable." Honestly, how many people are there out there dying to write programs to make fractal-like pictures? Perhaps I'm just not visionary enough to see the potential, but I don't believe these techniques will really "democratize programming." Whether or not doing so is desirable in the first place is another debate altogether.