Design-Oriented Programming: Beyond The Text Barrier

This book is about serious design for writing computer code. I cover many of the prevailing design methodologies that can be used in conjunction with conventional programming languages. As such, this book is not a substitute for learning an existing programming language. Rather, it shows how to take these existing languages to the next level and prepare your builds for the design revolution. All gray code languages can be improved through design. A confluence of events is creating the need for genuine advances in computer programming interfaces. The book explains the fundamental need to break through the text barrier in order to continue to provide substantive innovation for coding. My hope is that readers will find this first edition to be a fast-paced primer that respects the reader's need to obtain the information as efficiently as possible. Any developer or organization can get started with design-oriented programming immediately at no cost after reading this book. A basic switch-over to design can be achieved in just a few days. Better yet, organizations can phase in advanced design at their own pace. A minimal viable design transition can be planned in just a single meeting, followed by iteration as competencies increase. As an emerging field the book provides the basic concepts, Hello World programs, and projects to drill into practical details. Design-oriented programming can be customized at every level. I do not advocate for any particular design structures, editors, or translators. Rather, I advocate for a better experience for the developer or team based on their preferences. Design-oriented programming is hardcore design. It is by the developer for the developer. It can be raw like a sketchbook diagram. It should be functional first and polished later. Unless there is a customer-facing API, no marketing, sales, or product managers shall get between the code writers and their internal code design. The objectives of in-code design are entirely germane to the building of software. In-code design gives developers the control to promote code clarity and productivity. Design-oriented code is mathematically superior to text-only code because it enables the programmer to utilize dramatically more of the available optical bandwidth. Fixed character sets utilize a tiny fraction of the available pixel permutations per character bounding box. As the font size grows larger the situation becomes even more pronounced. Furthermore, design is able to fully use both vertical and horizontal dimensions in the editor (not just a wrapped linear string). This book will provide the confidence managers need to authorize software developers to code with pixel-level access