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rekreanto
rekreanto

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This is a brilliant explanation of Orthogonal States by David Harel... using babies

Look at he banner art above. It is the classic Statechart visual language that we all know and love: useful for modeling behavior for example in a reactive app. But now imagine the same visual formalism populated with cute babies:

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This is David Harel, author of the original Statechart paper from 1987, explaining Orthogonal states using babies. It is mind-blowingly endearing and accessible. (Full transcript scrolling in the sidebar etc.) The video appears as part of the excellent edX course "Programming for Everyone – An Introduction to Visual Programming Languages" (formerly Liberate Programming).

Anyone with the slightest interest in Statecharts, or programming, or... just loves poignant anecdotes will love this course. It is entry level, I think no one will feel excluded. Advanced learners might enjoy it for the sheer joy and clarity it radiates. Also, it is never too early to get the mental models of the fundamental concepts right :-) Or you could just wait for David Geddes to publish a Statechart mastery game :-).

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