Interactive programming: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Latest revision as of 21:45, 9 March 2023

Interactive programming vs. standard programming

Interactive programming is the procedure of writing parts of a program while it is already active. This focuses on the program text as the main interface for a running process, rather than an interactive application, where the program is designed in development cycles and used thereafter (usually by a so-called "user", in distinction to the "developer"). Consequently, here, the activity of writing a program becomes part of the program itself.

It thus forms a specific instance of interactive computation as an extreme opposite to batch processing, where neither writing the program nor its use happens in an interactive way. The principle of rapid feedback in extreme programming is radicalized and becomes more explicit.

Synonyms: on-the-fly-programming, just in time programming, conversational programming

Application fields

Interactive programming techniques are especially useful in cases where no clear specification of the problem that is to be solved can be given in advance. In such situations (which are not unusual in research), the formal language provides the necessary environment for the development of an appropriate question or problem formulation.

Interactive programming has also been used in applications that need to be rewritten without stopping them, a feature which the computer language Smalltalk is famous for. Generally, dynamic programming languages provide the environment for such an interaction, so that typically prototyping and iterative and incremental development is done while other parts of the program are running.

As this feature is an apparent need in sound design and algorithmic composition, it has evolved significantly there. More recently, researchers have been using this method to develop sonification algorithms.

Using dynamic programming languages for sound and graphics, interactive programming is also used as an improvisational performance style live coding, mainly in algorithmic music and video.

Example code

Live coding of 3D graphics in ActionScript using COLT^[1]
An example of some code in the dynamic programming language SuperCollider is available here.
Another example, written in ChucK is available here
Live coding of graphics with fluxus: a screenshot
impromptu
An example of livecoding in English with Quoth
Hot-swapping in the functional reactive programming language Elm

References

^ "- YouTube". YouTube.

[1] "- YouTube". YouTube.

[1]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Redirect|Live programming|live broadcasting television and/or radio programming|Broadcast programming}}
-{{Proposed deletion/dated
+{{Distinguish|Live coding}}
-  |concern = This article references no previous works, the term seems indistinguishable from "Live Coding" (more commonly known as "Live Programming") despite explicitly stating that they are not the same thing, and I have not found it being used in the literature in this context (the talk page does list a couple of uses of the term, but in different contexts - and it criticises this article as well). It should be merged with the "Live Coding" article, if not outright deleted.
+{{More citations needed|date=September 2021}}
-Do note that this page has been used as a reference in other works (https://elm-lang.org/blog/interactive-programming), but that's as much as can be said for its legitimacy.
-  |timestamp = 20190129153856
-  |help =
-}}
-{{Distinguish | Live coding}}
 [[Image:JITvsStandardProgramming.png|thumb|200px|right|Interactive programming vs. standard programming]]
 '''Interactive programming''' is the procedure of writing parts of a program while it is already active. This focuses on the program text as the main [[User interface|interface]] for a running process, rather than an [[Interactive computing|interactive application]], where the program is designed in [[development cycle]]s and used thereafter (usually by a so-called "user", in distinction to the "developer"). Consequently, here, ''the activity of writing a program becomes part of the program itself.''
-It thus forms a specific instance of [[interactive computation]] as an extreme opposite to [[batch processing]], where neither writing the program nor its use happens in an interactive way. The principle of ''rapid feedback'' in [[Extreme Programming]] is radicalized and becomes more explicit.
+It thus forms a specific instance of [[interactive computation]] as an extreme opposite to [[batch processing]], where neither writing the program nor its use happens in an interactive way. The principle of ''rapid feedback'' in [[extreme programming]] is radicalized and becomes more explicit.
 '''Synonyms:''' on-the-fly-programming, just in time programming, conversational programming
@@ Line 19: / Line 12: @@
 Interactive programming techniques are especially useful in cases where no clear specification of the problem that is to be solved can be given in advance. In such situations (which are not unusual in research), the formal language provides the necessary environment for the development of an appropriate question or problem formulation.
 Interactive programming has also been used in applications that need to be rewritten without stopping them, a feature which the computer language [[Smalltalk]] is famous for. Generally, [[dynamic programming language]]s provide the environment for such an interaction, so that typically [[Software prototyping|prototyping]] and [[iterative and incremental development]] is done while other parts of the program are running.
 As this feature is an apparent need in sound design and algorithmic composition, it has evolved significantly there. More recently, researchers have been using this method to develop [[sonification]] algorithms.
@@ Line 26: / Line 19: @@
 == Example code ==
-*Live coding of 3D graphics in [[ActionScript]] using [[COLT (software)|COLT]] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4yoe1K080]
+*Live coding of 3D graphics in [[ActionScript]] using [[COLT (software)|COLT]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4yoe1K080|title=- YouTube|website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>
 *An example of some code in the dynamic programming language [[SuperCollider]] is available [http://swiki.hfbk-hamburg.de:8888/MusicTechnology/739 here].
 *Another example, written in [[ChucK]] is available [http://wiki.cs.princeton.edu/index.php/FractalMelody.ck here]
-*Live coding of graphics with [http://www.pawfal.org/Software/fluxus/ fluxus]: [http://www.pawfal.org/Software/fluxus/images/ribbon.png a screenshot]
+*Live coding of graphics with [http://www.pawfal.org/Software/fluxus/ fluxus]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20060105163947/http://www.pawfal.org/Software/fluxus/images/ribbon.png a screenshot]
 * [[Impromptu (programming environment)|impromptu]]
-*An example of livecoding in English with [http://netjam.org/quoth/demo Quoth]
+*An example of livecoding in English with [https://vimeo.com/50530082 Quoth]
-*[http://elm-lang.org/blog/Interactive-Programming.elm Hot-swapping] in the [[functional reactive programming]] language [[Elm (programming language)|Elm]]
+*[https://elm-lang.org/news/interactive-programming Hot-swapping] in the [[functional reactive programming]] language [[Elm (programming language)|Elm]]
 ==See also==
-* [[Read–eval–print loop]]
 * [[Live coding]]
 * [[Rapid application development]]
+* [[Read–eval–print loop]]
+==References==
+{{reflist}}
 [[Category:Programming paradigms]]