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Date
2022-11Type
- Conference Paper
Abstract
Computer programming typically requires people to describe operations in a formally specified textual language. Unfortunately, working with syntax is a significant cognitive load, making programming difficult for beginners and time-consuming for professional developers. In response to this, contemporary research often focuses on abstracting or improving the process of composing code. We believe, however, that one fundamental reason why programming is difficult is the disconnect between the symbols and metaphors used in code and the mechanics they represent. Programming languages use abstractions whose superficial similarities to natural language neither effectively help users understand programs nor enable them to work creatively. To tackle this fundamental limitation, this paper introduces a new language based on a novel programming-by-demonstration paradigm that (i) enables users to experiment and test their programs, (ii) allows describing complex operations without the need to learn any syntax, and (iii) always displays an approximation of the program state while programming a new operation. We explain the rationales behind our new approach and present our design and implementation using illustrative examples and a supplemental video recording. Show more
Publication status
publishedExternal links
Book title
Onward! 2022: Proceedings of the 2022 ACM SIGPLAN International Symposium on New Ideas, New Paradigms, and Reflections on Programming and SoftwarePages / Article No.
Publisher
Association for Computing MachineryEvent
Subject
Programming-by-demonstration; Visual programming; Non-textual programming; End-user programming; Learnable programmingOrganisational unit
09628 - Su, Zhendong / Su, Zhendong
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