So Far...

Initially I had planned on programming my project in Java, mainly due to its portability. But after thinking about the major part that visuals play, I have decided to switch to C#. My main reason for this is that I feel I would be able to create a much richer visual experience using WinForm or WPF, than using Swing. 

In my last post I mentioned that I created a parser over the weekend for a knowledge exercise, but I thought if if start to structure it now I will be able to use it in my project. Here is a class diagram showing the current structure.

I am currently working on the Syntactical Analyser, although I will need to redo the other parts soon as they are all written in Java.

The Beginning pt.2

Just a quick extension to yesterday's post.

Over the last couple of weeks I have been preparing for my project. I have mainly been thinking of questions that will me help understand how novice programmers approaches a problem. 

Currently most of the questions come in sets of three, re-phrasing the same problem in a different way. The first type is a situation that needs its processes described in words, the second is a sort of flowchart using a similar problem, and the third is a piece of programming language like pseudo code. By doing this I am able to see if the person is capable of determining the logical steps to solve a problem, but unable to understand a programming language logic due to unfamiliar syntax. Mixed in with these questions I have also created some  that will help design the language, finding out how the person participating in the study would imagine things to be done, for example assignments.

One last thing, Over the weekend I have been working on a parser, mainly as a knowledge exercise, so when I come to the actual implantation I will have a starting point, but I'll post most about this later on.

The Beginning

Hopefully this blog will help keep track of my final year project, giving an indication of my current progress.

By the end of my final year at university I hope to have designed and implemented my own programming language and IDE, with the aim of helping novice programmers understand fundamental concepts through visualisation.