Proposed Unified Visual Programming Language

Abstract

Throughout time, computer scientists have edited their programs by keypunching, then typing and more recently by typing and `point-and-clicking'. The need for improving the editing of a computer program is driven mainly by the necessity to reduce errors and increase productivity. Furthermore facilitating the editing of a computer program can contribute in facilitating the apprenticeship of programming by novices. The awakening of visual programming languages (VPL) offers an opportunity to considerably reduce editing errors, but also to be a great tool for non-programmers. For instance, the programmer is not required any longer to remember the syntax or constructs of a language to type it; instead he/she builds up a program by pointing and clicking visual objects perhaps combined with typing. This could lead to a less error prone program and higher productivity since the programmer types less. There still are a lot of challenges to surmount to increase the usability and intuitiveness of VPLs, especially for large-scale general purpose programming. One of the main problems in VPLs is that of achieving scalability. This study aims at contributing to the area of visual programming languages, by proposing the framework for a visual programming language that is the unification of the best features of four existing VPLs. This unified VPL, or UVPL, is designed to better achieve scalability, which is lacking - in general - in current VPLs. This study provides as well a short survey of the four selected VPLs, and a set of metrics to evaluate visual programs.