Why write state machines in text and then compile them? Why not create a GUI to draw state machines?
Because you are already using a text editor to write your C++/Java/Tcl/VB.net/C#/etc. code. The write/compile/test loop is well supported by today’s IDEs and fitting SMC into that loop is easy. Fitting in a GUI is not so easy. Then there is the issue of developing a GUI that runs on multiple platforms which is difficult even when using Java Swing. Because SMC is a command line application whose only OS interaction is reading and writing files, I am highly confident that Smc.jar will run on any Java-supported platform. But porting a GUI application would be a time consuming process – time I don’t have. Another philosophical argument against a GUI is that you spend more time trying to make the FSM drawing look nice than on actual development. Laying out the states and routing the transitions so that the drawing is somewhat readable is a time-consuming nuisance with little value. Besides, my GUI experience is limited.
