“Would an IDE with a flowchart view be practical?” (Brian Lu Happyville101, 2017).
In 2002, the results of an empirical study show that visual programming may help a computer programmer develop computer programs (Menzies, 2002). Perhaps there are more recent empirical studies.
Personally I use a Petri Net diagram with a system for associating computer codes with Petri Net elements to develop JavaScript® programs for PDF form applications that use the Acrobat®/JavaScript API (Adobe, 2007; Chionglo, 2014; Flanagan, 2006). My IDE is PowerPoint® + Notepad® + Word® + Acrobat + Photoshop® and I find it practical. For diagrams I use PowerPoint, for forms I use Word and for codes I use Notepad (Adobe, 2012a; Microsoft, 2016; 2013a; 2013b). Sometimes I use Photoshop to “edit” images that I did not create (Adobe, 2012b).
I find this practical because I use the diagram to help me write JavaScript programs. After drawing the diagram and adding “annotations” to the shapes in the diagram and adding additional “annotations” into a form, I manually translate the “annotations” to a JavaScript program.
Any type of computer code can be associated with Petri’s net elements (Petri, 1973). In other words snippets of JavaScript, COBOL, VB, assembler, etc. can be associated with net elements – one or more than one computer languages at a time. In theory, any type of information can be associated with net elements – text, graphics, mathematical expressions, computer codes, etc. (Petri, 1973). Thus in theory you can use the same tools I am using to create other applications that run in other host environments.
References
Adobe Systems Incorporated. (2012a). Adobe Acrobat XI [software]. San Jose, California: Adobe Systems Incorporated.
Adobe Systems Incorporated. (2012b). Adobe Photoshop CS6 [software]. San Jose, California: Adobe Systems Incorporated.
Adobe Systems Incorporated. (2007). Adobe Acrobat SDK 8.1 JavaScript for Acrobat API Reference for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS. Edition 2.0, April 2007. San Jose, California: Adobe Systems Incorporated. Retrieved Aug. 3, 2010 from http://wwwimages.adobe.com/www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/devnet/acrobat/pdfs/js_api_reference.pdf.
Brian Lu Happyville101. (2017). Would an IDE with a flowchart view be practical? Software Engineering Stack Exchange. Retrieved on Apr. 2, 107 from Would an IDE with a flowchart view be practical?.
Chionglo, J. F. (2014). Net Elements and Annotations for Computer Programming: Computations and Interactions in PDF. Available at https://www.academia.edu/26906314/Net_Elements_and_Annotations_for_Computer_Programming_Computations_and_Interactions_in_PDF.
Flanagan, D. (2006). JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, Fifth Edition. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media Inc.
Menzies, T. (2002). Evaluation issues for visual programming languages. In S. K.
Chang (Ed). Handbook of Software Engineering & Knowledge Engineering, Vol. 2 Emerging Technologies. World Scientific Publishing co. Pte. Ltd., pp. 93 – 101.
Microsoft (2016). Notepad [software]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation.
Microsoft (2013a). PowerPoint 2013 [software]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation.
Microsoft (2013b). Word 2013 [software]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation.
Petri, C. A. (1973). Concepts of Net Theory. In Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science: Proc. of Symposium and Summer School, High Tatras, Sep. 3 – 8, 1973, pages 137 – 146. Math. Inst. of the Slovak Acad. of Sciences, 1973.