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Encyclopedia of Database Systems pp 3370–3374Cite as

Visual Formalisms

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Definition

Visual formalisms are diagrammatic and intuitive, yet mathematically rigorous languages. Thus, despite their clear visual appearance, they come complete with a syntax that determines what is allowed, and semantics that determines what the allowed things mean. The main emphasis in the visuality is typically placed on topological relationships between diagrammatic elements, such as encapsulation, connectedness, and adjacency. Geometric and metric aspects, such as size, shape, line-style, and color, may also be part of the formalism. Icons can be used too. Such languages typically involve boxes and arrows, and are often hierarchical and modular. Visual formalisms are typically used for the design of hardware and software systems. This includes structural as well as more complex behavioral specifications.

Historical Background

Two of the oldest examples of visual formalisms are graphs and Venn diagrams, which are both originally due to Euler [7,8]. A graph, in its most basic...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

    David Harel & Shahar Maoz

Authors
  1. David Harel
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  2. Shahar Maoz
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, 266 Ferst Drive, 30332-0765, Atlanta, GA, USA

    LING LIU (Professor) (Professor)

  2. Database Research Group David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, N2L 3G1, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    M. TAMER ÖZSU (Professor and Director, University Research Chair) (Professor and Director, University Research Chair)

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Harel, D., Maoz, S. (2009). Visual Formalisms. In: LIU, L., ÖZSU, M.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-39940-9_444

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