The DICT Development Group

  visual programming language
       
           (VPL) Any programming language that allows the user
          to specify a program in a two-(or more)-dimensionsional way.
          Conventional textual languages are not considered
          two-dimensional since the compiler or interpreter
          processes them as one-dimensional streams of characters.  A
          VPL allows programming with visual expressions - spatial
          arrangements of textual and graphical symbols.
       
          VPLs may be further classified, according to the type and
          extent of visual expression used, into icon-based languages,
          form-based languages and diagram languages.  Visual
          programming environments provide graphical or iconic elements
          which can be manipulated by the user in an interactive way
          according to some specific spatial grammar for program
          construction.
       
          A visually transformed language is a non-visual language with
          a superimposed visual representation.  Naturally visual
          languages have an inherent visual expression for which there
          is no obvious textual equivalent.
       
          Visual Basic, Visual C++ and the entire Microsoft Visual
          family are not, despite their names, visual programming
          languages.  They are textual languages which use a graphical
          GUI builder to make programming interfaces easier.  The user
          interface portion of the programming environment is visual,
          the languages are not.  Because of the confusion caused by the
          multiple meanings of the term "{visual programming", Fred
          Lakin has proposed the term "executable graphics" as an
          alternative to VPL.
       
          Some examples of visual programming languages are Prograph,
          Pict, Tinkertoy, Fabrik, CODE 2.0 and Hyperpascal.
       
          http://www.cogs.susx.ac.uk/users/ianr/vpl.html)">(http://www.cogs.susx.ac.uk/users/ianr/vpl.html).
          http://cuiwww.unige.ch/eao/www/readme.html)">(http://cuiwww.unige.ch/eao/www/readme.html).
       
          Usenet newsgroup: news:comp.lang.visual (NOT for Visual
          Basic or Visual C++).
       
          (1995-02-10)