Overview
- Editors:
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Kim Marriott
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Department of Computer Science, Monash University, Victoria, Australia
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Bernd Meyer
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Lehr und Forschungseinrichtung für Programmierung und Softwaretechnik Institut für Informatik, Ludwig Maximillians Universität, Munich, Germany
- A broad-ranging survey of our current understanding of visual languages and their theoretical foundations * Focusing on definition, specification, and structural analysis using grammars, logic, and algebraic methods * Includes a fully formalized logic theory for describing visual notations
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About this book
Kim Marriott Bernd Meyer Communication is one of the hallmarks of humans. When we think of hu man communication, most people first think of spoken and written lan guages. These are similar in that symbols in the language are encountered and processed sequentially, either temporally as they are spoken or as char acters are read across a page. However, not all human communication is sequential in nature. Important components of human communication are visual languages, such as maps or diagrams. In these languages the basic symbols are not encountered sequentially but rather seen together at a glance. Visual languages are ubiquitous in human cultures, ranging from tradi tional paintings of central Australian aborigines which are, in part, maps of the countryside to an architect's design of a new building. Visual languages have been employed from earliest pre-history to the present and are used in almost every human endeavor. They cover the entire spectrum of human expression ranging from fine art, such as an abstract expressionist's private language, to precise technical communication using rigorously defined no tation, such as musical notation, mathematical notation, or street maps. Some visual languages, such as sign languages used by the deaf community, substitute spoken language entirely. Indeed, sign languages, for example American Sign Language, are a particularly interesting instance of visual communication, since they use three-dimensional spatial arrangements of signs in combination with their sequential temporal order to constitute meaning.
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Table of contents (13 chapters)
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- Kim Marriott, Bernd Meyer
Pages 1-4
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- Kim Marriott, Bernd Meyer, Kent B. Wittenburg
Pages 5-85
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- N. Hari Narayanan, Roland Hübscher
Pages 87-128
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- Kim Marriott, Bernd Meyer
Pages 129-169
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- Gennaro Costagliola, Andrea De Lucia, Sergio Orefice, Genny Tortora
Pages 171-191
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- Kent B. Wittenburg, Louis M. Weitzman
Pages 193-217
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- Filomena Ferrucci, Genny Tortora, Maurizio Tucci, Giuliana Vitiello
Pages 219-243
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- Marc Andries, Gregor Engels, Jan Rekers
Pages 245-259
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- T. B. Dinesh, S. Üsküdarli
Pages 325-351
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- Paolo Bottoni, Maria Francesca Costabile, Stefano Levialdi, Piero Mussio
Pages 353-375
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Back Matter
Pages 377-381
Editors and Affiliations
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Department of Computer Science, Monash University, Victoria, Australia
Kim Marriott
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Lehr und Forschungseinrichtung für Programmierung und Softwaretechnik Institut für Informatik, Ludwig Maximillians Universität, Munich, Germany
Bernd Meyer