The language VL

VL is the name of the language used in vvvv. Here is a quick overview:

Language Components

The most important components of VL are Nodes and Links
Nodes and links live on a canvas called Patch
One or multiple patches are contained in a VL Document. VL Documents are stored as files on disk
Every patch can define one or more Operations. Operations can be created as nodes in other patches
There are two kinds of patches, one is merely a container for independent operations the other is a data type. If a patch is a data type its operations can store and/or share data via Properties. Properties can be accessed and/or modified in operations via Pads
One VL Document A can reference another VL Document B to use its data types and operations as nodes. File B is then called a Dependency of A
Patches can also contain Regions. A region defines a new computational context. There are different kinds of regions
Nodes and regions can have inputs and outputs called Pins
Static data can be entered into an operation using IOBoxes. IOBoxes are little editors for basic types like numbers, text, color… They can also be used to display the current value of anything connected upstream.
Links transport data from outputs to inputs. Therefore they define the data flow and execution order of the nodes in an operation.

VL combines metaphors known from dataflow, functional and object-oriented programming
It is strictly evaluated
It comes with regions aka visual code blocks (loops, if, delegates, ...)
It features Process nodes aka simple lifetime management
It has Adaptive nodes aka adhoc polymorphism