One major difference I’ve seen in shader graph type tools is that they are stateless, or almost stateless. The output of the shader graph is a function of time and some fixed parameters, and there are rarely feedback loops. When there are feedback loops in shader graphs, they are represented explicitly via nodes like TouchDesigner’s feedback TOP.
This way of expressing computations lends itself well for shader programming where the concurrency of the GPU discourages manipulation of arbitrary state.
In contrast, business logic programmed for the CPU is generally more stateful and full of implicit feedback loops. IMO these types of computations are not expressed well using node based visual programming tools because the state manipulation is more complex.
This way of expressing computations lends itself well for shader programming where the concurrency of the GPU discourages manipulation of arbitrary state.
In contrast, business logic programmed for the CPU is generally more stateful and full of implicit feedback loops. IMO these types of computations are not expressed well using node based visual programming tools because the state manipulation is more complex.