It's nice that it has built-in touch and cloud support, and it's nice that you can code on-the-unit, using the touch interface. But it seems even less visual than existing visual languages (they are mostly academic/teaching experimnts; I don't mean "V"B - though its form creator comes close).<p>Could there be an entirely different approach to programming, built around the touch-screen from the ground up? Using its strengths (e.g. analog 2D input) and skipping its weaknesses (e.g. no digital symbols from keystrokes) - instead of trying to cram the old ideas into the new? Let it grow in its own way, I say.<p>A starting point might be visual form creation; lines for bindings, for transitions, for calls; multiple fingers for looping. Or, perhaps even better, to be like the <i>diagrams</i> we sketch to represent coding ideas! Instead of adapting our most natural and intuitive expression (diagrams) to coding in text, why not work directly with diagrams, now that we finally have the appropriate tools?<p>Diagrams aren't suitable for all coding tasks, but I recommend fitting a technology to the tasks where it naturally excels.<p><i>disclaimer</i> I haven't played with the tech (no WP7), just going by the webpage. Lest I offend with my ridiculously idealistic demands (who of us has created a fundamentally new approach to coding? Not I), this really shows that MS is pro-developer (while apple is pro-consumer) - and just <i>starting</i> to use multi-touch as a programming fundamental is the most important step in this quest.
It has some nice UI ideas - I particularly like the idea of calculator-like editor.<p>Environments with limited text input ability get significant advantage from staticaly (or at least strong) typed languages - code autocomplete is really killer weapon when editing text.<p>As a sidenote something similar can be achieved on Android phones using Touchqode [1] and Scripting Layer For Android [2]. It does not have specific language but you can use any of its supported languages - Python, Ruby, BeanShell (Java), Rhino (JavaScript)<p>Disclaimer: I work on touchqode<p>[1] <a href="http://www.touchqode.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.touchqode.com</a>
[2] <a href="http://code.google.com/p/android-scripting/" rel="nofollow">http://code.google.com/p/android-scripting/</a>
Duck Duck Go gets a bit of love in the sample applications. There is a sample app that talks to their API.<p>Interesting to see how they've shoehorned an editor into the touch screen interface. As an end user its nice to have a little more control over my device.
The editing UI with the keywords as a calculator-style interface in the bottom half of the screen is an interesting '80s flashback. It reminds me of LucasArts-style adventure games with a grid of action verbs below the game view.<p>Also, those home computer keyboards where each key had both an alphabet and a BASIC keyword printed on it:<p><a href="http://ewyse.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/acornelectron_top.jpeg" rel="nofollow">http://ewyse.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/acornelectron_top.j...</a><p>That was a pretty clever way to make the programming language quick reference available at a glance.
This probably dates me and marks me as unhip but..<p>When I first read the headline, I thought "Why would anyone add a touch interface to WordPerfect 7?"
First thought: Wow, the syntax looks like AppleScript.<p>Looks quite compelling though - hopefully they'll tie in the PIM and GPS features - imagine being able to ask you phone how long you spent physically at work during the week, or who are the top 5 people you emailed in the last month.