Cognitive factors in programming with diagrams

Visual programming languages aim to broaden the use of diagrams within the software industry, to the extent that they are integrated into the programm ing language itself. As a result, they provide an ideal opportunity to stud y the benefits of diagrams as an external representation during problem sol ving: not only is programming a challenging problem-solving activity, but t he effect of diagram usage can be directly assessed by comparing performanc e while using a visual programming language to performance with a standard textual language. There have been several misconceptions amongst visual lan guage researchers regarding the role of diagrams in software design, but th ese are being addressed by empirical studies and by new theories of notatio n design derived from studies of visual programming. Based on this research , the authors are able to recommend several new directions for research int o thinking with diagrams.