Code Diagrams Enable 'Point-and-Click' Programming
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993743

Michigan Tech University
1998

Abstract:

Non-programmers could play a major part in developing complex computer programs, thanks to a new language developed by Sun Microsystems. Ace is based on Sun's successful Java language and provides software development tools that give a graphical representation of computer code. Manipulating the diagram on-screen automatically alters the underlying code. For example, moving a line connecting two boxes could change the point at which a piece of input data is entered into a program. 'Non-programmers can use Ace to build a skeleton of their application,' says Ali Sayed, a member of the Ace project team. 'But to make it completely working they [or a colleague] will have to write some minimal amount of code.' Ace should also let non-experts modify a program after its core components have been written.