Bret has previously given a talk[1] that addresses this point. He discusses the importance of using symbolic, visual, and interactive methods to understand and

Bret has previously given a talk[1] that addresses this point. He discusses the importance of using symbolic, visual, and interactive methods to understand and design systems. [2] He specifically shows an example of digital filter design that uses all three. [3] Programming is very focused on symbolic reasoning right now, so it makes sense for him to focus on visual and interactive representations and interactive models often are intertwined with visual representation. His focus on a balanced approach to programming seems like a constant harping on visualization because of this. I think he is trying to get the feedback loop between creator and creation as tight as possible and using all available means to represent that system. The prototypes I have seen of his that are direct programming tend not to look like LabView, instead they are augmented IDEs that have visual representations of processing that are linked to the symbolic representations that were used to create them. [4] This way you can manipulate the output and see how the system changes, see how the linkages in the system relate, and change the symbols to get different output. it is a tool for making systems represented by symbols but interacting with the system can come through a visual or symbolic representation. [1] http://worrydream.com/MediaForThinkingTheUnthinkable/note.html http://worrydream.com/MediaForThinkingTheUnthinkable/note.ht... [2] http://vimeo.com/67076984#t=12m51s http://vimeo.com/67076984#t=12m51s [3] http://vimeo.com/67076984#t=16m55s http://vimeo.com/67076984#t=16m55s [4] http://vimeo.com/67076984#t=25m0s http://vimeo.com/67076984#t=25m0s