> seems like there’s also a general feeling that this is easier than learning how to code, and I guess my question is… is it?
IMHO, node-based programming will never and should never replace text-based programming. Neither is in fact a replacement for the other. There are problems that benefit more from one approach and other problems that benefit more from the other one. There are also many problems that benefit from the cooperation between both approaches. There's even problems for which we should use neither, for instance, when a spreadsheet would suffice.
Unfortunately, many node editor projects sell/promote their tools as silver bullets that will solve all people's problems and replace all their tooling. I think this attitude prevented a more wide adoption of node editors and harmed their reputation a lot. It also prevented a lot of experimentation with them that could have led to more established and efficient workflows.
In the Nodezator project, it is quite the contrary. I only recommend the usage of a node editor, including my own, for specific problems for which node editors are better suited.
Which kind of problems are that? Well, since node editors are still not used much as tools for general computing, we only know about specific domains, like media compositing, for instance. There's much to be researched and experimented still.
I myself use Nodezator for generating position animation data for a 2D game as well as images that I use in video editing workflows in other apps. This year I've been very busy with development work so I didn't do much research, but since last year I've been experimenting with a lot of different tasks and documented my findings a bit. I'm only scratching the surface though. Experimented with SVG image generation and even parametric generation of 3D models. If you want to know more, you can check this thread on twitter/x: https://x.com/KennedyRichard/status/1747605744361300126
I'd also like to experiment more with workflows for non-programmers in the future (for instance, where someone designs a set of nodes and only teaches a non-programmer how to combine them for various tasks), although I already expect node editors to succeed in various domains regarding this (but as I said before, never replace text-based programming). The reason is that it already is used like that with success in other software. For instance, in Blender 3D, where non-programmers use their node editor for many different 3D-related workflows.
> seems like there’s also a general feeling that this is easier than learning how to code, and I guess my question is… is it?
IMHO, node-based programming will never and should never replace text-based programming. Neither is in fact a replacement for the other. There are problems that benefit more from one approach and other problems that benefit more from the other one. There are also many problems that benefit from the cooperation between both approaches. There's even problems for which we should use neither, for instance, when a spreadsheet would suffice.
Unfortunately, many node editor projects sell/promote their tools as silver bullets that will solve all people's problems and replace all their tooling. I think this attitude prevented a more wide adoption of node editors and harmed their reputation a lot. It also prevented a lot of experimentation with them that could have led to more established and efficient workflows.
In the Nodezator project, it is quite the contrary. I only recommend the usage of a node editor, including my own, for specific problems for which node editors are better suited.
Which kind of problems are that? Well, since node editors are still not used much as tools for general computing, we only know about specific domains, like media compositing, for instance. There's much to be researched and experimented still.
I myself use Nodezator for generating position animation data for a 2D game as well as images that I use in video editing workflows in other apps. This year I've been very busy with development work so I didn't do much research, but since last year I've been experimenting with a lot of different tasks and documented my findings a bit. I'm only scratching the surface though. Experimented with SVG image generation and even parametric generation of 3D models. If you want to know more, you can check this thread on twitter/x: https://x.com/KennedyRichard/status/1747605744361300126
I'd also like to experiment more with workflows for non-programmers in the future (for instance, where someone designs a set of nodes and only teaches a non-programmer how to combine them for various tasks), although I already expect node editors to succeed in various domains regarding this (but as I said before, never replace text-based programming). The reason is that it already is used like that with success in other software. For instance, in Blender 3D, where non-programmers use their node editor for many different 3D-related workflows.