Visual programming languages
With graphical development environments, programmers simply use a mouse to draw a flowchart; then, the development environment translates it into a finished application. Developers do not need to learn cryptic commands, and they neither produce syntax errors nor suffer buffer overflows. Ideally, the development environment will even step through the program, visually emphasizing the currently active component and dramatically facilitating the troubleshooting process.
The first graphical development environments emerged in the 1960s, but only GUI editors or Rapid Development (RAD) tools are in common use. Developers use them to click together user interfaces for their applications (e.g., Glade [1] and Qt Designer [2]); however, in reality, only laboriously typed chunks of code bring the GUI elements to life. Design tools are similarly restricted, especially tools for Unified Modeling Language [3]. Again, they generate a code framework that the programmer fills with content at the keyboard.
If you look hard, you will find a surprisingly large number of visual programming languages (VPLs), for which their inventors usually include a suitable development environment. Often, the development environment is designed with a specific field of application in mind.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Wayland 1.24 Released with Fixes and New Features
Wayland continues to move forward, while X11 slowly vanishes into the shadows, and the latest release includes plenty of improvements.
-
Bugs Found in sudo
Two critical flaws allow users to gain access to root privileges.
-
Fedora Continues 32-Bit Support
In a move that should come as a relief to some portions of the Linux community, Fedora will continue supporting 32-bit architecture.
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 Drops bcachefs
After a clash over some late fixes and disagreements between bcachefs's lead developer and Linus Torvalds, bachefs is out.
-
ONLYOFFICE v9 Embraces AI
Like nearly all office suites on the market (except LibreOffice), ONLYOFFICE has decided to go the AI route.
-
Two Local Privilege Escalation Flaws Discovered in Linux
Qualys researchers have discovered two local privilege escalation vulnerabilities that allow hackers to gain root privileges on major Linux distributions.
-
New TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro Powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300
The TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen10 offers serious power that is ready for your business, development, or entertainment needs.
-
LibreOffice Tested as Possible Office 365 Alternative
Another major organization has decided to test the possibility of migrating from Microsoft's Office 365 to LibreOffice.
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.