📝 SummarXiv

Abstract

Most visual programming languages (VPLs) are domain-specific, with few general-purpose VPLs like Programming Without Coding Technology (PWCT). These general-purpose VPLs are developed using textual programming languages and improving them requires textual programming. In this thesis, we designed and developed PWCT2, a dual-language (Arabic/English), general-purpose, self-hosting visual programming language. Before doing so, we specifically designed a textual programming language called Ring for its development. Ring is a dynamically typed language with a lightweight implementation, offering syntax customization features. It permits the creation of domain-specific languages through new features that extend object-oriented programming, allowing for specialized languages resembling Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) or Supernova language. The Ring Compiler and Virtual Machine are designed using the PWCT visual programming language where the visual implementation is composed of 18,945 components that generate 24,743 lines of C code, which increases the abstraction level and hides unnecessary details. Using PWCT to develop Ring allowed us to realize several issues in PWCT, which led to the development of the PWCT2 visual programming language using the Ring textual programming language. PWCT2 provides approximately 36 times faster code generation and requires 20 times less storage for visual source files. It also allows for the conversion of Ring code into visual code, enabling the creation of a self-hosting VPL that can be developed using itself. PWCT2 consists of approximately 92,000 lines of Ring code and comes with 394 visual components. PWCT2 is distributed to many users through the Steam platform and has received positive feedback, On Steam, 1772 users have launched the software, and the total recorded usage time exceeds 17,000 hours, encouraging further research and development.