Towards the design of an intrinsically graphical language

Abstract

Coding a large and diversified graphics application system is a difficult task. We suggest an approach to this problem in which programs are built up using Objects (e.g., Classes, Modules) newly generated or drawn from a library. Each Object has an Aid which supports an interactive dialogue with the programmer resulting in the insertion of the appropriate references to the Object into the developing code. An Aid can display graphical Objects and accept sketching and picture editing. An Association capability allows the programmer to generate code corresponding to the displayed graphical material. The Association can be literal, with numerical values being inserted, or symbolic, with variable arguments inserted. A Programming System that is so structured implements an Intrinsically Graphical Language because the code can be “written” using both textual and graphical dialogues.