Customer Reviews

Flow-Based Programming, 2nd Edition: A New Approach to Application Development

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This is the single most valuable book on programming that I purchased in the last ten years.

If you are a programmer writing conventional programs using standard programming languages such as C++ and Java you've probably learned the hard way that concurrency is hard, that code usually isn't reusable, and that translating design into actual programs is a lot of work. There is a better way; it's called flow based programming.

In this book Morrison explains the principles of flow based programming. Conventional programs are structured around the flow of control; flow based programming is based upon flow of data. In FBP applications are developed by creating a network of components. Each FBP component acts like independent mini-process with input and output ports. Information is transferred between components using data flow channels. Systems are built by specifying the flow of information in the system.

Flow based programming promises easy and natural concurrency, real reusability, and easy translation of design into code. It's an attractive idea, but does it work? Morrison says yes and shows us how and why. This is a distillation of decades of experience with real life systems. It talks about structuring components, structuring networks, and building applications.

It also discusses the relationship of the flow based paradigm to other programming paradigms such as object oriented programming and functional programming. In the final sections it surveys other languages and projects that are conceptually related.

The one complaint that I have with the book is that it does not have an index.

I coincidently ran into this technique while researching some efficient coding and design styles. I have to say the first time I read about FBP , i knew this is how I want to develop my applications going forward. As the author Mr. Morrison rightly said, it brings us close to the "lego programming" that we all have been dreaming for. It's the best programming book I have read in 12 years of my programming life.