PROGRAMS IN PICTURES: A NEW FORM OF EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS

"Programming in algorithmic pictures" is an approach where pictures and moving pictures are used as super-characters for representing features of computational algorithms. Within this approach some "multidimensional data spaces" are traversed by "fronts of computation" and necessary operations are performed during these traversal processes. Generic pictures of the algorithmic super-characters are used to compose compound pictures defining algorithmic steps. The generic and compound pictures are developed and acquired in special libraries (galleries) where supportive pictures of embedded clarity annotations are also included. In this paper, we consider examples of pictures from the above mentioned galleries and present a program in pictures for the sparse matrix-vector multiplications. Through this example we show how the system of pictures can be used for teaching courses on algorithms and on programming in conventional languages.