UI

[vme131!lsi3!jecel@uunet.UU.NET (Jecel Mattos Assumpcao Jr)]

The "spreadsheet" programming style proposed by Kuba for generating text code
in a visual way is very appealing. It reminds me of programming by "watching"
in the PROGRAMMING BY REHEARSAL [FG84], a graphical environment built on top
of Smalltalk-80.

There were several places in the system where you could enter a block of code.
You could type the expression directly or click on a closed eye character
which would then open and watch what you did next. Your next actions would
be entered into the form as code. You would click again on the eye when done.

This method is, in many situations, easier and less error prone then typing. It
is also a gentle way of learning the language syntax for beginners.

--> Jecel <--

References

[FG84] William Finzer & Laura Gould. Programming by Rehearsal, in Byte Vol. 9
       No. 6, June 1984 pp. 187-210