Comic Strip Programs: Beyond Graphical Rewrite Rules.
Mikael Kindborg, Kevin Robert McGee · Distributed Multimedia Systems · 2005
Comics and programs both are static representations of something dynamic. While a comic book almost looks and feels like an animated cartoon, the source code of a program seldom resembles the visible runtime behaviour. By using comic strips to represent concurrent events, graphical programs that feature interactive, animated characters and objects can be expressed in a visually direct way, making it easier for both children and adults to create their own computer programs. Compared to graphical rewrite rules, comic strip programs have a potential for increased expressiveness and flexibility, because of how the semiotics of comics can be used to express a wide variety of situations. There are also challenges with using comics as a program representation, for example, comics have no signs for conditionals, concurrency, and generalisations.