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Nodes.io – A new way to create with code

nodes.io

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Re: Nodes.io – A new way to create with code

#61

Post by galfarragem »

jlundberg wrote: post #59
galfarragem wrote: post #57

Unpopular idea here (from a hobbyist programmer). I would "kill" for a text editor/IDE/REPL shaped as a spreadsheet where each cell is a block of code with 2 possible views (text or result) linkable to other cells. This "spreadsheet" would be programming language agnostic (each cell could use a different language) and I could organize/format my cells (location, colors, size, etc) as I wish.

I am very curious about this idea of yours. Do you have a draft drawing of the concept or could you otherwise elaborate a bit more?

As an anecdote I used to use a spreadsheet to visually "assemble"[0] HTML code for a niche blog. Some cells would compute values to be used in other cells that would compose the final HTML code. Of course existent spreadsheets are way too rudimentary to use as an "Excel Code": cells don't act as a REPL for the language of your choice nor allow a "text view" with syntax highlighting.

[0] Maybe because I have a background in Architecture, I tend to look at code as I would look at a house plan.

Re: Nodes.io – A new way to create with code

#62

Post by Borlands »

beaconstudios wrote: post #40

looks cool guys! I'm working on something similar (won't be so vulgar as to self-promote on your post though) - it's exciting to see more people exploring this space. I think there's a lot of potential in visual programming going forwards; I know it's been explored before but it feels like smart phones pre-iPhone: lots of entries but no-one has captured the essence of it into a compelling product yet (outside of spec…

This is really great,loving the whole code catalog and podcast.

Codeflow looks interesting, but is mislisted as open source in the catalog[1] although private on github, and there’s a new sign up for beta option on their page - I believe it’s no longer open source

[1] https://futureofcoding.org/catalog/codeflow.html

[2] https://github.com/codeflowlang

Re: Nodes.io – A new way to create with code

#64

Post by breakfastduck »

barnaclejive wrote: post #3

I'm so confused. "Build interactive web apps" "Create bespoke tools" Any examples besides weird shapes?

This isn't necessarily made for building enterprise web apps or social media sites.

There always seems to be a complete absence of appreciation for value to artists on HN. This is very clearly a creative tool first and foremost.

Re: Nodes.io – A new way to create with code

#65

Post by ReservedIgnac »

galfarragem wrote: post #57

Unpopular idea here (from a hobbyist programmer). I would "kill" for a text editor/IDE/REPL shaped as a spreadsheet where each cell is a block of code with 2 possible views (text or result) linkable to other cells. This "spreadsheet" would be programming language agnostic (each cell could use a different language) and I could organize/format my cells (location, colors, size, etc) as I wish.

Sounds like microservices taken to the atomic level.

Re: Nodes.io – A new way to create with code

#66

Post by regularfry »

galfarragem wrote: post #57

Unpopular idea here (from a hobbyist programmer). I would "kill" for a text editor/IDE/REPL shaped as a spreadsheet where each cell is a block of code with 2 possible views (text or result) linkable to other cells. This "spreadsheet" would be programming language agnostic (each cell could use a different language) and I could organize/format my cells (location, colors, size, etc) as I wish.

I suspect Emacs could be convinced to do this. Right now there's the Simple Emacs Spreadsheet which uses elisp as a formula language and has a grid view, but I can't imagine shelling out to alternative interpreters would be beyond the wit of man.

Re: Nodes.io – A new way to create with code

#67

Post by primitivesuave »

galfarragem wrote: post #57

Unpopular idea here (from a hobbyist programmer). I would "kill" for a text editor/IDE/REPL shaped as a spreadsheet where each cell is a block of code with 2 possible views (text or result) linkable to other cells. This "spreadsheet" would be programming language agnostic (each cell could use a different language) and I could organize/format my cells (location, colors, size, etc) as I wish.

This is actually a great idea. I had a conversation over beers with some people in a higher intellectual realm who were discussing the details of flow-based languages. It was the general consensus among them that in the future, flow-based programming will be the way everyone learns structural thinking, and we will look back on sequential instruction programming the same way we look back on punch cards today.

Re: Nodes.io – A new way to create with code

#68

Post by FractalHQ »

galfarragem wrote: post #57

Unpopular idea here (from a hobbyist programmer). I would "kill" for a text editor/IDE/REPL shaped as a spreadsheet where each cell is a block of code with 2 possible views (text or result) linkable to other cells. This "spreadsheet" would be programming language agnostic (each cell could use a different language) and I could organize/format my cells (location, colors, size, etc) as I wish.

Ellx.io is doing this at the moment afaik

Re: Nodes.io – A new way to create with code

#70

Post by pharke »

barnaclejive wrote: post #3

I'm so confused. "Build interactive web apps" "Create bespoke tools" Any examples besides weird shapes?

I think it has other uses, being able to attach visualizations to data processing code is very helpful especially if it's simple to just drop in something like a histogram. It would be even nicer to have a way to scrub through the processed items and see them displayed in an easy to read format on the screen as you do so. Cypress allows this to a degree by recording the visual state of a page as tests are run and lets you hover over the output and see the layout change as you scroll up and down.
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