Domain-specific language for Flow-Based Programming

07 September 2011
1 minute read

There is now a domain-specific language for designing control flows:

'package.json' -> SOURCE Read(ReadFile) OUT -> IN Split(SplitStr)

Split() OUT -> IN Count(Counter) COUNT -> IN Display(Output)

Read() ERROR -> IN Display()

NoFlo, showcased in my earlier post, already supports this, allowing you to specify flows in this language and then execute them on Node.js. Example:

$ noflo examples/linecount/count.fbp 

32

The language itself is not new, coming from the 70s-era IBM Data Flow Development Manager (DFDM) system, NoFlo just brings it to the modern era through what could be called software archaeology.

Continue reading

cover image for NoFlo: two years of flow-based programming

NoFlo: two years of flow-based programming

05 June 2013 in Berlin, Germany. 8 minute read.
NoFlo — the flow-based programming system I started — is now two years old. I pushed the first commits to GitHub on June 5th 2011 from Hacker Dojo in Mountain View. To get us started with the story, I’ll let Wikipedia summarize:
cover image for My interview on the origins of NoFlo

My interview on the origins of NoFlo

06 August 2013 in Berlin, Germany. 1 minute read.
Here is a video interview of me talking about the origins of NoFlo, the flow-based programming environment for JavaScript:

Read more Flow-Based Programming posts.