cse 341 -- s. tanimoto visual languages 1 visual languages (outline) motivation control flow...
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CSE 341 -- S. Tanimoto Visual Languages
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Visual Languages (Outline)
Motivation
Control Flow Diagrams
Data Flow Diagrams
Iconic Programming, Iconic Representation
Visual Languages for Computer-based Human Communication
Programming by Demonstration
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MotivationProgramming is difficult because it’s hard to imagine what the state of the program is.
Programming is difficult because language constructs are cryptic.
Most PL concepts were developed in the text-only days, before graphical interfaces were widespread.
Human visual perception is capable of high-bandwidth input if images, rather than text, are used.
Visual languages can sometmes be learned more quickly.
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Control Flow Diagrams
Flow charts:
originally used only for specification and documentation
later, executable flow charts were developed.
product = 1
n > 1
product *= n
n--
Print product
Read n
N
Y
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Data Flow DiagramsCaptures potential parallelism
Usually requires scheduling
Allows cueing of types by line attributes
cos
sin
Input double
* 5
sqr
+ Output
Input image Output imageTo Black&White
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Iconic Programming
Icons can sometimes be learned more quickly and remembered more easily than textual names.
An icon can represent an object or an operation.
“Icons on strings” -- replacement of the boxes in flowcharts and data flow diagrams by icons
Scripts composed of “iconic sentences”
Example: Pictorial Language for Animation by Youngsters (PLAY) -- Runyan & Tanimoto, 1985.
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Iconic Representation
Icons can sometimes be learned more quickly and remembered more easily than textual names.
Icon design involves metaphor -- use of analogy.
Stylization -- graphical simplication and exaggeration.
Decontextualization -- the trashcan is not in the kitchen.
Abstract concepts are difficult to represent.
Composing new images takes longer than new names.
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Example Iconic Language
Vedo-Vedi: An iconic language for computer-based human communication.
Prototype supports multi-lingual communication
Meaning is expressed in an animation, with subtitles
developed by S. Tanimoto & C. Bernardelli, 1998.
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Programming by Demonstration
The user performs a sample computation.
The system may generalize the sequence.
Requires an interface in which users can manipulate data directly.
Controlling the generalization process is tricky.
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Example Systems
Gael Curry: Programming by Abstract Demonstration -- UW, 1977.
Stagecast Creator: A simulation environment using programming by demonstration and rule-based simulation. (based on Cocoa & KidSim). Avail. at www.stagecast.com.
ToonTalk: A robot programming environment supporting concurrent computation and complex control structures via a visual programming-by-demonstration method. (developed by Ken Kahn, available at www.toontalk.com).