Although programming is one of the most creative things that one can do with a computer, there is currently no way to make programs on an increasingly popular class of tablet computers. Tablets appear unable to support capable (proficient) programming experiences because of their small form factor and touch-centric input method. This paper demonstrates how co-design of a programming language, YinYang, and its environment can overcome these challenges to enable do-it-yourself game creation on tablets. YinYang’s programming model is based on tile and behavior constructs that simplify program structure for effective display and input on tablets, and also supports the definition and safe reuse of new abstractions to be competitive with capable programming languages. This paper details YinYang’s design and evaluates our initial experience through a prototype that runs on current tablet hardware.

I am an independent programming language researcher who focuses on design, objects, IDEs, live programming, and how we could program with touch.