Hyperflow: A Uniform Visual Language for Different Levels of Programming

Takayuki Dan Kimura, Washington University in St Louis

Abstract

We propose a visual language, Hyperflow, for system programming as well as for end user shell programming. Hyperflow is designed for a multimedia pen computer system for children. It is a dataflow-based graphical language similar to Show and Tell. In order to demonstrate the capablity of Hyperflow, we solve the programming problem of implementing a help command for children to telephone their instructor or parents using voice communication hardware (modem, microphone, speaker, and a clock). The resulting program includes visual programs to implement device drivers for the modem and clock hardware.