Most programmers have a favorite text-based programming language. Some programmers even get rather vocal when it comes to defending their favorite's pros and cons. In fact, the only thing that most programmers can agree upon is that it's a good idea to avoid mixing languages during development.
The same level of loyalty can be found with graphical-based programming languages. That's because data and control flow representations tend to be more natural. Many programmers stay within a graphical language when they're developing applications. But graphical- and text-based programming are much more complementary than most developers realize.
It's already common to use graphical tools to create forms, manipulate databases, and configure systems. The level of programming tends to be very limited in these cases. Yet the interaction between the results of these tools and the associated text-based code can greatly simplify application development. Some tools work best from a visual standpoint.
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