The purpose is to make use of a dimension of the visual space previously unused to make diagrams more expressive.
Even if it's something simple like a node turning from green to red to convey it's shutting down. Maybe something like that before animations would be a text saying, "this node will shut down now", which takes reading/zooming into text.
I also think it can, if used well, result in diagrams that ⋆⋆spark joy⋆⋆. People like to see diagrams like that, even if it's not more utilitarian. I think sketch mode is an example of this. It changes the font to an objectively less readable one, yet I often hear people make all their D2 diagrams in sketch mode.
Coauthor of D2 here. Lately I've been noodling on the idea of expanding the animation capabilities. I think out loud a bit here, and if you have thoughts, would love to hear them:
> I’m often alone on this. Engineers look at complex systems with many interesting parts and think “wow, a lot of system design is happening here!” In fact, a complex system usually reflects an absence of good design.
For any job-hunters, it's important you forget this during interviews.
In the past I've made the mistake of trying to convey this in system design interviews.
Some hypothetical startup app
> Interviewer: "Well what about backpressure?"
>"That's not really worth considering for this amount of QPS"
> Interviewer: "Why wouldn't you use a queue here instead of a cron job?"
> "I don't think it's necessary for what this app is, but here's the tradeoffs."
> Interviewer: "How would you choose between sql and nosql db?"
> "Doesn't matter much. Whatever the team has most expertise in"
These are not the answers they're looking for. You want to fill the whiteboard with boxes and arrows until it looks like you've got Kubernetes managing your Kubernetes.
Terrastruct | Programming language engineer | SF, Remote ok for senior (US/CAN) | Full-time | $120-$200K base | 0.2-1.5% equity
We’re looking for a programming language expert to build a modern diagramming DSL.
Terrastruct is a diagramming tool for software architecture. Current diagramming tools are closer to design tools than dev tools. We’re going to enable software teams around the world to define diagrams with a custom DSL. One that can represent classes, SQL tables, containers, markdown, code blocks, and has autoformatting, and much more. It’s backed by in-house autolayout algorithms, so we control the full stack of the diagram creation. Oh and it’ll be open sourced once ready. We think it’s on its way to be (and already is in many aspects) an order of magnitude better than alternatives like Mermaid, PlantUML, Graphviz/DOT.
And you can play with it on our app (sorry, needs an account. We do plan to put an interactive version without needing to sign up, but things are still in beta right now).
We’re looking for someone ASAP. Requirements are that you’ve worked on programming languages professionally before or have excelled in another area of software (you can point to some widely-used software and say “I played a significant role in building that”). If interested, email me at [email protected], worst that happens is you’ll see a demo and discuss some cool ideas.
I don't add this for D2 CLI because the outputs there are SVG, and this feature requires Javascript.