An intuitive software erector kit targeted at people new to programming, but with enough potential to stay useful once they've learned, inspired by HyperCard.
Text source code is so 80ies. HyperCard already had "Link to..." and later "Button Tasks", SuperCard had "ClickScript".
We do not want a code generator. Instead, we want the next generation of syntax coloring: When people write script text, we don't just color it, we turn each token or group of tokens into UI elements, Automator-style. Users can simply select valid parameters from a popup menu in the spot where the parameter would be etc. But users can still type in their scripts, and they get saved as plain text HyperTalk scripts for better version control.
In addition, like Scratch or Automator, there will be a library of commands that you can just drag onto the script editor's canvas, so users that don't want to type don't have to, and new users can just drag together operations. There should also be a caret and type-selection, and maybe even auto-completion, so you can use the keyboard to select an item from the library and insert it in the right spot on the canvas.
Even cooler would be if the editor canvas took advantage of the entire 2D space. Every function and every command in it has a location on the canvas (specified in some sort of grid units though, so the editor can move surrounding stuff a bit when a function becomes wider?). The user can now visually arrange everything as it makes sense, connect stuff, create new function and command handlers by "grouping" commands (specifying the parameters as inputs and outputs, Prograph-style).
Furthermore, the graphical debugger could show several functions at once on the same canvas, so you see what is executing concurrently.
Text source code is so 80ies. HyperCard already had "Link to..." and later "Button Tasks", SuperCard had "ClickScript".
We do not want a code generator. Instead, we want the next generation of syntax coloring: When people write script text, we don't just color it, we turn each token or group of tokens into UI elements, Automator-style. Users can simply select valid parameters from a popup menu in the spot where the parameter would be etc. But users can still type in their scripts, and they get saved as plain text HyperTalk scripts for better version control.
In addition, like Scratch or Automator, there will be a library of commands that you can just drag onto the script editor's canvas, so users that don't want to type don't have to, and new users can just drag together operations. There should also be a caret and type-selection, and maybe even auto-completion, so you can use the keyboard to select an item from the library and insert it in the right spot on the canvas.
Even cooler would be if the editor canvas took advantage of the entire 2D space. Every function and every command in it has a location on the canvas (specified in some sort of grid units though, so the editor can move surrounding stuff a bit when a function becomes wider?). The user can now visually arrange everything as it makes sense, connect stuff, create new function and command handlers by "grouping" commands (specifying the parameters as inputs and outputs, Prograph-style).
Furthermore, the graphical debugger could show several functions at once on the same canvas, so you see what is executing concurrently.