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Microsoft Visual Programming Language

Visual programming language

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
1 min read
Source updated May 14, 2026

Microsoft Visual Programming Language, or VPL, is a visual programming and dataflow programming language developed by Microsoft for the Microsoft Robotics Studio. VPL is based on the event-driven and data-driven approach. The programming language is distinguished from other Microsoft programming languages such as Visual Basic and C#, as it is the only Microsoft language that is a true visual programming language. Microsoft has utilized the term "Visual" in its previous programming products to reflect that a large degree of development in these languages can be performed by "dragging and dropping" in a traditional wysiwyg fashion.

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This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Microsoft Visual Programming Language”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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In computer programming education, a visual programming language, block coding system or diagrammatic programming language, is a programming language that lets users create programs by manipulating program elements graphically rather than by specifying them textually. A VPL allows programming with visual expressions, spatial arrangements of text and graphic symbols, used either as elements of syntax or secondary notation.