Not all node graphs are DAGs - a lot of audio platforms allow cycles I believe.
But I'm thinking more about how the user would want to interact with the system.
The trouble with graphs is that they tend to nudge you towards spaghetti and they tend to force micromanagement of layout on you. Smart autolayouts alleviate this latter point somewhat but you also lose some of the semantic value that spatial organisation provides.
Depending on the application you tend to most be doing "fan out" or "fan in" - most of the graph is a tree. "Fan in" is easy to handle in a stack. A modifier takes another stack as input. The other stack doesn't have to live somewhere different spatially - it can just be hidden and shown as needed.
I just don't want to spend my time tidying up my graph and zooming in and out just to see things. Node graphs are probably responsible for a decent chunk of the sales of incredibly large monitors! I like to work on a small-ish laptop and I have the eyesight of a middle-aged man.
But I'm thinking more about how the user would want to interact with the system.
The trouble with graphs is that they tend to nudge you towards spaghetti and they tend to force micromanagement of layout on you. Smart autolayouts alleviate this latter point somewhat but you also lose some of the semantic value that spatial organisation provides.
Depending on the application you tend to most be doing "fan out" or "fan in" - most of the graph is a tree. "Fan in" is easy to handle in a stack. A modifier takes another stack as input. The other stack doesn't have to live somewhere different spatially - it can just be hidden and shown as needed.
I just don't want to spend my time tidying up my graph and zooming in and out just to see things. Node graphs are probably responsible for a decent chunk of the sales of incredibly large monitors! I like to work on a small-ish laptop and I have the eyesight of a middle-aged man.