VisualText

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  The VisualText Splash Screen

Inspiration

We were coding another one of our prototypes and kept on running into syntax issues. If it wasn't syntax issues, it was the code being too long. We eventually had enough of this and therefore created our own programming language: VisualText.

What it does

VisualText is a programming language that allows you to code using text (just like Java, Python, C#, etc.) while allowing the programmer to visualize what they're coding in the form of blocks (similar to Scratch). This programming language allows you to create all kinds of apps, and has tons of features, ranging from file I/O to variables to the ability to build user interfaces with only a few lines of code.

How this is beneficial for college students

Many college students (in the computer science/programming sector at least) embark on large projects of their own. With other programming languages such as Java, Python, or C#, the syntax is often long and can at times be messy and/or confusing, decreasing efficiency; this forces students to spend time fixing issues instead of making their ideas come true. VisualText solves that. Not only can this benefit college students, but also beginners who are looking to learn code — VisualText's visual aspect and its simple syntax makes learning code much easier.

How we built it

We built it using C# .NET (Windows Forms). The design focuses on a central RichTextBox where the user inputs their code, along with an console under it, allowing the user to see the output. The programming language is interpreted, which means that when the user runs the program, the code is read line-by-line, blocks are drawn, and (if applicable), data is outputted to the console.

Challenges we ran into

We ran into many challenges. First, due to the large amount of features, we could not get all of them done in time. Therefore, we had to do only some of the features. We also ran into issues getting input from the user, as since we were reading from the file line-by-line, the program wouldn't wait for the user to finish inputting (and therefore the user input doesn't work). We also ran into scaling issues; while we did an acceptable job scaling elements, they would not look good on high-DPI displays.

Accomplishments we're proud of

We're really proud

What's next for VisualText

We do not plan to stop working on VisualText — we shall continously add features until VisualText is good enough to compete with and outperform other programming languages such as Java and C# while maintaining readability and most important of all: user friendliness.

Built With

• .net
• c#
• visual-studio
• windows-forms