NoFlo Development Environment

[iamVFX]

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nof ... nvironment



If you like ICE, please back it if you can!

[Hirazi Blue]

Their platform goals (Android & iOS) do seem a bit limited...

[iamVFX]

Their platform goals (Android & iOS) do seem a bit limited...

PC also, in browser! It is written in javascript, so whatever system you have, as long as chrome or firefox can run on it

[iamVFX]

9 days left and 5000 more needed to complete the pledge, which is really close!

By the way, their FAQ explains things a little more. Keywords: Can work completely offline, MIT license, No code generation

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Q: How about support for {{ insert favorite programming language }}?

A: Flow-Based Programming is a paradigm that can be adapted to work with any existing programming languages. To keep the project manageable we need to limit our initial focus, and that means that at first we will ship support for the NoFlo FBP environment, which is built on JavaScript for both Node.js and the browsers.

If we hit our stretch goals, we will also expand the support to Java and Objective-C to allow native Android and iOS development, and for Python.

The user interface layer has been designed to be independent of the underlying FBP implementation, and so the various programming communities should be able to connect it with their flow-based environments. Making it work with Actor Based and Functional Reactive systems should be especially easy.



Q: If you don't hit your stretch goals will you still support Java / Objective-C / Python?

A: If we don't hit our stretch goals we will *eventually* support multiple platforms, but it will not be a payroll priority. Receiving those funds will secure the needed salaries and allow us to prioritize expanding and supporting multiple platforms. We've purposefully stayed away from the more common VC route, so your support will go a long way in making this happen!



Q: Does the UI require Internet connection?

A: The NoFlo UI will come with a hosted service that allows you to connect your projects with GitHub, run the test suites, and make it easier to deploy your flow-based applications.

Graph editing itself can work completely offline, and if you're working with client-side graphs you can even write components and run everything without talking to the servers. And since the whole system is open source, you'll be able to install the whole system also in your own infrastructure.



Q: Open Source, and why there are licenses included in the rewards?

A: NoFlo, the user interface, and the server code will all be available under the permissive MIT license. However, to make things easier we will provide a hosted version of the full setup for a fee. The rewards that include a license will provide access to the hosted environment.



Q: Visual programming is $#!^, code will always be needed!

A: Hold your horses! NoFlo was made by coders and originally for text-based code. The purpose of this Kickstarter is to fund the hosted UI, but NoFlo is usable right now as a code-only framework. Graphs can be created via JSON, procedurally or a fancy DSL. Components are coded according to traditional OO idioms. For more info see: noflojs.org/documentation/

Software logic is inherently a graph; functions connect to other functions, sending data along. NoFlo is a framework for manipulating directed graphs representing one-way connections between encapsulated components... the UI is optional!

NoFlo has been in production for more than 2 years without a UI. But, some things are just better suited for visual interaction. For example, selecting a group of nodes and making a subgraph, that gets really, really irritating in code! And, of course, the UI is killer for facilitating collaboration between developers, designers and domain experts.

Yes, well-written code will always remain a critical part of NoFlo.



Q: It looks like this thing generates code...

A: Don't worry, NoFlo does not generate code, but graphs can be exported as JSON.



Q: Is this similar to UML?

A: This is not a rehash of UML. UML is a diagram mapping out object-oriented constructs, often used for code generation. NoFlo graphs instead are only the coordination layer that manages the control flow of your software. The components are still handcrafted and unit-tested code that NoFlo merely wires together at runtime, following the edges specified in a JSON file. No code generation here.



Q: Sounds like a good idea, but a drag and drop editors are crap, this brings back nightmares from BPEL or Yahoo!Pipes or {{ insert a 90's era flowchart looking thingy }}

A: The story of visual programming tools started with the GRaIL system of the 60s, and has progressed to tools like LabView and Pure Data. So far none of these tools has reached mainstream acceptance outside of their (sometimes fanatic) industry niches.

This is partly because these tools were built originally with a particular problem domain in mind, and partly because of the user experience. Execution matters, as we've seen so many times in the tech industry. After all, there were a lot of tablets before the iPads.

[iamVFX]

Without this man ICE could not exist...

[csaez]

Interesting project, thanks!

[Falam]

After over 30 yrs, they thought, lets go backwards to the chart they used to design the programs.

[csaez]

UML has been there all the way... please don't misunderstand the concepts behind flow-based programming

[Falam]

UML has been there all the way... please don't misunderstand the concepts behind flow-based programming

It has been there all the way, since the 1970's took until up to this point to slowly, begin to be used.