What if I told you that there was a programming language which eliminated syntax errors completely?
What if I told you that this language was also easy to understand, read, and maintain?
What if this language was object orientated? And came with a powerful class library? And a set of visual object and GUI editors, all written in the language so that you could directly add to them and extend them?
What if this language could access the Mac OS Toolbox, external C code, and compiled to native 680x0 and PowerPC code?
What if it had automated memory management for its objects?
And what if I told you that, with this language, you could run your programs in an interpreter where you could debug code, inspect data, and edit both code and data *all while the program ran*?
You would be interested, right?
If you are a developer used to the syntax hell, edit-compile-debug cycles, and memory management nightmares of Pascal and C/C++, you certainly should be.
Does this language exist? Would I be making you read this if it didn’t? ;-)
Take a look at Prograph: a very high level, iconic, object orientated, dataflow based language that, quite frankly, is the most advanced I’ve ever seen.
Unlike other “visual” languages which only offer visual resource editing but then require you to pound out textual code, Prograph is a *true* visual language. You actually *draw* your code as dataflow diagrams. This is not a CASE tool, the diagrams of operation icons and dataflow links are the code.
Does this limit Prograph? Not at all. It can do anything the text languages can. I say this knowing C, C++, BASIC, and Java.
For many programmers it’s a radical change. A change as great as going from DOS 1 to Mac OS 8.
But it’s a change that’s well worth it. Prograph is to programming languages as Macintosh was/is to personal computers.
You’re probably thinking “There must be a catch.” Well, there is. Pictorius, the owners of Prograph, have been somewhat less than clear about Prograph’s future as a native application tool. They are using it in their Web-based tools, which is great, but they haven’t updated Prograph CPX for Mac OS in awhile, though they have finally released the Windows version. I won’t get into their lack of advertising, previous high pricing, etc, all of which has held back the next revolution in programming languages. Water under the bridge, and no company is perfect (look at Apple’s history).
Despite this, Prograph CPX as it exists today is still the #1 Mac development tool in my book (yes, you can update it yourself for new Mac OS releases).
I believe that the Prograph language could thrive if more programmers would simply take a look. It should be the next standard for native application development. I look at Prograph and then I look at what “everybody else is using” and I honestly feel like an early Mac user standing at the edge of an empire of DOS, wondering “Why don’t these people get it?” I look at how sophisticated Mac OS 8 and X are and then look at the code driving all the applications that run under these and wonder “How can they still program that way?” I look at Java, the “next great thing” and think “Sorry, it’s just Windows 1.0 compared to Prograph.”
The comparisons are apt. Other languages force you to type your code using odd syntax. They throw fits if a header file is out of place or your punctuation is wrong, failing to compile and throwing up cryptic error messages which are often wrong. Like DOS used to do to users. Prograph is fully visual, with no weird syntax to learn and instant visual feedback on names you type in (i.e. instant confirmation that you typed it correctly, automatic setup of inputs and outputs, etc.). Other languages have GUI editors tacked on top of their text core which help in manipulating the source code for GUI elements but then leave you back in a text editor for the real work. Like Windows on top of DOS. Prograph editors run in the interpreter allowing you to drive the environment and automate processes like never before.
Take a look. Whether you’re a seasoned Mac developer or a new user wanting to learn programming. (For new programmers: Prograph is ideal for exploring the toolbox and programming concepts thanks to its ability to let you *watch* your code execute and even edit the code while it's running.) Even if the masses use something else (we Mac users know all about that). You owe it to yourself to at least check this language out.
Bookmarks to Pictorius, the Mac and Windows Prograph pages, and the demos are in the same folder as this file. They are also listed below for users of Mac OS 7.x (the bookmark applets require Internet Config, Thread Manager, and Appearance Manager, which are not standard on Mac OS prior to Mac OS 8).
Mac Prograph Page - http://www.pictorius.com/prographcpx.html
