> Visual languages trade named links for global wiring
Existing visual programming langs can definitely do "named links". A lot support named function-like blocks which are another form of avoiding wires.
> which is very cluttered for serious problem solving
This clutter is also problematic in textual programming, and is the reason abstractions and programming structures are used. Perhaps the hint here is that we need better ways of representing abstraction in visual programming.
Mathematicians like to use parametrizations to measure "how |any dimensions" something has. If you need two indexes to traverse it (x and y), it's 2d, if a single index works best to describe it, it's 1d.
Another way to think of it is "there is semantic meaning to 'the character to the right/left of this one', but is there to 'the character above/below this one'?" In most programming languages, there isn't at all.
How is `if` related with creating a new line? And how does new line make something 2D? If code was 2D you could write code anywhere in your document without juggling around spaces and newlines
Visual languages trade named links for global wiring, which is very cluttered for serious problem solving.