Merge sort (the first example countering visual programming's value) is a great demonstration of something that doesn't make sense to convey visually. I strongly believe algorithms in general are best conveyed using good ol' textual programming.

However, most dev's work isn't writing merge sort, but gluing up databases, third-party vendors, and internal microservices to perform some business logic. The amount of "low-level" coding done is low, and getting even lower with the emergence of LLMs.

With that in mind, visual programming as a way to orchestrate different components together can shine!

That's why I built Flyde - https://www.flyde.dev. An open-source visual programming language that integrates seamlessly with existing code, and doesn't replace it.