CrawLogo: empowering end-users to program the Web

In order to create applications that programmatically use the Web as an expressive medium, the current choice is largely between those conventional programming languages that are difficult to master and those that are less expressive. CrawLogo is a Logo-inspired programming environment in which Web-space is represented as part of a Crawler Geometry-and in which the coordinates in this geometry are programmable "Crawltures." In initial trials of the system, end-users were able to quickly create their own Web-enabled applications; however, further research is needed to improve different aspects of the geometry and the interface of the CrawLogo development environment. agent (the "turtle") with state-variables for position, heading, and the like. Thus, in Logo users can create drawings on the screen by "talking to the Turtle" using such well-known Turtle commands as FORWARD and RIGHT. This, in turn, transforms geometry into something useful for novice programmers. The development of CrawLogo is motivated by a similar interest: to develop a geometry that is usable by non-programmers who want to make different kinds of Web-enabled applications. In the sections below, the initial version of Crawlture Geometry and the CrawLogo development environment is described-as are some sample applications and the initial response of end-user programmers who successfully used CrawLogo to build Web-enabled applications. (For a more extensive treatment, see [3].)