Virtual Meetup – Tom Beckmann

Abstract

A strength of structured editing is its support for integrating visual domain specific languages (DSLs). Such visual DSLs allow users to work on their problem domain in non textual representations, thus potentially matching the domain much more closely than a textual representation could. In this talk, we present experiments we did on integrating visual DSLs with runtime information. By integrating runtime information into visual DSLs, users both gain a closer match to their problem domain and their need for abstract reasoning decreases, as concrete values illustrate their program. Our experiments are implemented in and benefit from the liveness of the Squeak/Smalltalk system but we also demonstrate how limited runtime introspection may also be possible in other languages, such as Python or TypeScript.

Biography

Tom Beckmann is a PhD student with the Software Architecture Group at the Hasso Plattner Institute (https://www.hpi.uni-potsdam.de/swa/), which is part of the University of Potsdam in Germany. His main interests include live programming, programming experiences, and procedural narrative generation. Tom holds a BSc and an MSc from HPI. He is working on block-based or structured programming environments for professional software developers and most recently has also been investigating virtual reality as a potential platform for programming.

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