VSP stands for "Very Simple Programming". VSP is the name given to a suite of technologies designed to make programming as easy as typing a text document i.e. to make the user the programmer. It's not just about making programming easy - the emphasis is on redefining the very meaning of programming. We are in the age where programming is about writing applications for users. VSP will let you (the user) tell the computer what you want it to do - and the computer will go do it. The middleman between you and the computer - the programmer, is eliminated.

Components of the VSP ideology:

• VSP Studio - It's the development environment for the VSP suite of technologies
• XCBL - the core language around which VSP is built

VSP Studio

The VSP studio is a modern development environment oriented towards creation of quality programs quickly but easily. It can be customized to suit everyone's needs - be it the total newbie or the hard-core programmer. VSP Studio will give you the degree of freedom and help you want. VSP Studio is designed from the ground up to support rapid development and deployment of large scale applications fine tuned to perform well in today's increasingly web-based world. VSP Studio borrows ideas from the development environments present today along with several new ones, with a focus on providing ease of use. With technologies like syntax import/export and the VSP web services architecture, VSP Studio allows you to develop better applications faster than before.

XCBL

XCBL stands for eXtensible Common Base Language. It was conceived as part of an initiative to redefine programming as we know it today - to make it simpler, easier and faster. XCBL is meant to be the core around which VSP Studio is built. This was done as current day programming languages aren't flexible enough to support the kind of features VSP demanded

XCBL was designed from the beginning to be a modern next-generation language, supporting all the features of current day programming languages and more. Drawing heavily on the trail blazed by successful languages like C++ and Java and borrowing features from less successful languages like SmallTalk, XCBL is very close to achieving one of its main objectives - any feature in any language should have an equivalent in XCBL.

For more details you may download the VSP paper and the presentation. The abstract for the paper is provided below for your benefit.

ABSTRACT

This paper is about a new programming ideology (VSP Ideology) involving a programming language called XCBL (eXtensible Common Base Language) and VSP Studio (VSP: Simple Programming).

Part 1 of the paper talks about the "Need for programming languages". Then it goes on to the "evolution of programming languages" and specific advantageous features of some selected programming languages. This section is basically to inform the reader of the prevailing conditions as far as the programming section of the computing community is concerned.

Part 2 deals with introduction to the VSP Studio and gives the features and functionality of VSP in moderate detail. The VSP Studio is a project that is in Alpha stage of development. The basic idea behind VSP studio is to make coding and code maintenance effortless.

Part 3 gives a detailed description of the XCBL language. XCBL language was developed as a part of the VSP ideology and this necessitated the creation of XCBL as a superset all existing languages (i.e.) it supports or support through emulation all features that any programming language ever had. XCBL supports OOPS.

Part 4 describes the syntax import/export architecture. The basic idea behind syntax import is to allow programmers to code in any language but still achieve the same final output. Syntax Export provides the facility of transferring code to any supported target language. This means portable programs can be written using VSP. Export also allows the programmers to compile XCBL source code by translating to a target compilable language like C++.

The importance of this paper can be understood well if the evolution of programming is considered in general. Off late the tools available for programming are so advanced that they are subject to research by market leaders in the software industry. Microsoft's latest drive for the .Net architecture proves that programming is no more a tool just for experts but is one for every computer user to enable him to use his computer to its fullest potential.