Improving readability of iconic programs with multiple view object representation

摘要

One of the most important advantages of an iconic programming language is its readability. In order to improve the readability of complicated iconic programs with many wire intersections and loops, we introduce a technique called "multiple view object representation". It means that one program component can be represented as a number of nodes, i.e., it provides layout flexibility. By using the flexibility, programmers can transform a complicated iconic program into a number of simple iconic programs. An iconic programming system was implemented based on the technique and evaluated through practical application construction. The evaluation illustrated that the technique greatly reduces anti-readability factors, such as loops and wire intersections, of complicated programs.