A minimal, extensible, drag-and-drop implementation of the C programming language

Block languages are visual programming languages based on the metaphor of programming bricks. Block languages such as Scratch, StarLogo and Alice, are becoming fundamental tools to get children interested in computer programming. These environments and environments derived from them, such as BYOB, have all the features needed to be strong candidates for introductory computer science courses and are starting to be used in some introductory university courses. Nonetheless, some computer science educators at college and university level feel that block languages are too toy-like to be used in regular computer science curricula. Standard programming languages, such as C or Java, are still thought of as more appropriate. In this work I will describe a third way to programming languages that can be used for introductory computer science: the visual implementations of relevant subsets of standard programming languages such as C. An initial evaluation showing excellent student acceptance is reported in this paper.