You may be interested in [this][1]. It's actually not that uncommon in childrens' programming, animation, and other less technical needs for scripting. Also, consider [Node-RED][2], which is also a visual platform for the Internet of Things (with a JS core, but you rarely need to actually dive into JS for most things).
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_programming_language [2]: https://nodered.org/ ----- Isiah Meadows [email protected] Looking for web consulting? Or a new website? Send me an email and we can get started. www.isiahmeadows.com On Sun, Nov 5, 2017 at 8:22 AM, Michael Lewis <[email protected]> wrote: > Raul-Sebastian Mihăilă just made a post here about some mixin syntax. I > didn't read it (sorry). > > But, it got me thinking about a concept I've been thinking for years: > syntax is the problem, and there's a better solution. > > If you define syntax as a human <--> computer language (a human-readable and > computer-readable form of text), you necessarily need a very strictly > defined syntax. One missing curly, and you're f'd. > > Duh, we all know this. Hang onto your pants for a second, let's explore an > alternative. > > What if we edited scripts more directly in AST form (abstract syntax tree). > Developers could implement their own UI to manipulate this AST. There are > many, many benefits to this, I'll get to in a second. > > First, let's remember what everyone in the JS community is doing right now: > running their code through transpilers. (I refuse to do this, that's why > I'm unemployed - I strongly dislike the concept). What is a transpiler? > It's an unofficial middleman that interprets the syntax, converts it to an > AST, performs transformations, and then returns the AST to syntax form. > > Suddenly, scripting in AST form doesn't sound so crazy. > > Clearly, you wouldn't be writing JSON. We would be using a GUI to create > the AST. And this is the greatest benefit: moving away from syntax, and > moving to a GUI. > > Then, instead of babel plugins that provide alternative syntax, you could > have plugins that provide alternative experiences. > > What would designing a class look like, if using a GUI? > > Click [ create new class ] > Click [ add new method ] > > Or, click the [ extend ] button next to an existing class... > > This is the future. I have to go eat breakfast, but I'd love to discuss > this future if anyone is interested... > > _______________________________________________ > es-discuss mailing list > [email protected] > https://mail.mozilla.org/listinfo/es-discuss > _______________________________________________ es-discuss mailing list [email protected] https://mail.mozilla.org/listinfo/es-discuss
