This is my design for a language called "SketchCode". The language tries to enable sketch-based programming, both on a traditional paper pad or on a tablet-like device, and strives to maintain simplicity and clarity of the sketches by reusing whatever notations people already use when sketching and by introducing as few new notations as possible.
Instead of making the code itself graphical, the system keeps the code mostly text based while using graphical notation for data structures. Blocks of simple shapes indicate objects, arrows indicate object references, tables indicate records or arrays.
The graphical nature of the data allows us to program by pattern matching as seen in a lot of functional languages. An important set of new notations would be the language of pattern matching: how to indicate matching a variable? How to match a part of an array or structure?
The first example shows how to calculate the sum the elements in a (sketched) linked list, the second shows how to extract data from a record, and the third shows the notation for 'if' statements.
Tentatively, I chose to underline an identifier in a pattern to indicate being a variable, and the "piece of a table" to indicate partial record matching. It would be interesting to see how to indicate other notations like a part of a graph or a slice of an array.
I have also borrowed some notations from math, and an implemented system could add traditional notations for things like roots, fractions, summation,...etc
A lot can be done with just those basic components: we could have unit tests with sketches of test input, or a "console" where we sketch function application to evaluate it, and more. From there, there is so much that could be added.
Of course, such a system needs to be implemented in order to find out whether this design is really sufficient to express interesting programs, and whether such expressions are actually natural to draw/understand, and how to e.g naturally modify an existing program.
Tentatively, I chose to underline an identifier in a pattern to indicate being a variable, and the "piece of a table" to indicate partial record matching. It would be interesting to see how to indicate other notations like a part of a graph or a slice of an array.
I have also borrowed some notations from math, and an implemented system could add traditional notations for things like roots, fractions, summation,...etc
A lot can be done with just those basic components: we could have unit tests with sketches of test input, or a "console" where we sketch function application to evaluate it, and more. From there, there is so much that could be added.
Of course, such a system needs to be implemented in order to find out whether this design is really sufficient to express interesting programs, and whether such expressions are actually natural to draw/understand, and how to e.g naturally modify an existing program.
