Fusing Direct Manipulations into Functional Programs

Explore a groundbreaking approach to bidirectional live programming in this 18-minute conference talk from POPL 2024. Delve into a novel operation-based framework that automatically fuses direct manipulations into source code, enabling code-insensitive direct manipulations. Learn about the DM delta language for expressing common direct manipulations and the fusion algorithm that propagates these manipulations into functional programs. Discover how this method resolves challenges in existing bidirectional live programming systems, allowing developers to modify programs by manipulating output without needing to understand code changes. Examine the implementation of FuseDM, a prototype SVG editor showcasing the framework's effectiveness through 14 benchmark examples. Gain insights into the potential of this approach for enhancing developer productivity and simplifying program modification processes.