PPIG 2016 - 27th Annual Workshop
Whither with 'with'? – new prospects for programming
Nicolas Pope, Elizabeth Hudnott, Jonathan Foss, Meurig Beynon
Abstract: The role that dependency can play in developing programs is a longstanding topic of interest. The idea that spreadsheet principles are the key to new more accessible ways of programming continues to be a focus for current research. This paper further elaborates an idea whose development has been documented in several previous PPIG meetings: that programming can be best understood by construing human and automated agency in observational terms. Its main focus is on illustrating and discussing a new concept: a with-construct that has been introduced in a recently developed environment for making such construals (the ‘MCE’). Preliminary work indicates that introducing this concept has a transformative impact both on the practice of making construals and its relationship to conventional programming.