>> where something that looks like UML can be turned into source code and 
>> back again with the appropriate tool.
> 
> I'm constantly wondering why we don't have this yet.
> 
> In fact, why aren't we all programming by drawing flowchart diagrams, 
> and defining the behavior of each box on them?

Ever used a CASE tool?

Back at uni, we had a thing called Rational Rose that would let you draw 
a bunch of diagrams, and if the diagrams went into sufficient detail 
[you could draw a rough outline if you prefer], the program would spit 
out 25 miles of C++ code.

The problem with this is that it tends to be *insanely* tedious to work 
like this. For example, Native Instruments sell a product called Reaktor 
[note absurd spelling] which allows you to basically write DSP 
algorithms by placing boxes and connecting wires between them. Just for 
giggles, try forming the expression "4x^3 - 3x" (the 3rd Chebyshev 
polynomial of the 1st kind), assuming you have an incoming wire which 
holds "x". That little expression there contains 5 multiplications and a 
subtraction; the wires get messy, fast. And it takes a lot longer to 
draw them all out than it does to write the formula...

I gather there was some sort of graphical Haskell evaluator that worked 
a little like this. You'd draw an expression tree, press a button and 
watch the graph reduction happen. I don't know what happened to it though...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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