From: OFeem1987@teleworm.us   
      
   John Ames wrote this post by blinking in Morse code:   
      
   > On 13 Jan 2026 07:54:04 GMT   
   > rbowman  wrote:   
   >   
   >> The dream in the ETL and BI world is pointy haired bosses can do   
   >> something with big data without talking to those snotty programmers.   
      
   Now they'll talk to snotty AI.   
      
   > "Visual programming" has always seemed like a solution to a problem   
   > nobody has, dreamed up by people who don't really understand what the   
   > *actually* challenging parts of software development are.   
      
   At work a few years ago I was forced by funding and then wanting   
   to get off a C#/.NET project (working for an arrogant cowboy) to   
   delve into the wonderful world of SysML/UAF. With Cameo Systems   
   Modeler (MagicDraw) one could use diagrams to create programs and   
   simulations.   
      
   Fairly clumsy and difficult to master. Plus some things couldn't   
   be done without paying for a plugin [e.g. ALF, the Action Language   
   for Foundational UML (fUML)]. Some calculations could be done   
   using Octave (free) or MATLAB ($$$).   
      
   One could also created documentation by drawing diagrams with   
   <> elements (IIRC), <>, <>, and   
   connecting them. An example here, too fuzzy to read though:   
      
          
      
   I generated some fairly large documents (HTML, PDF) using it.   
   Again, clumsy.   
      
   There's also the Report Wizard, which uses the Velocity Template   
   Language (Apache license) to lay out page structures to fill in   
   with model data. Again, clumsy but workable, for generating   
   LibreOffice and Microsoft documents.   
      
   I was quite happy to retire and get back to C++, LaTeX, etc.   
      
   --   
   The grass is always greener on the other side of your sunglasses.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)