Broad, non-Buzz-related question about audio software programming

[Mozart von Robot]

What's the learning curve these days, for learning programming? What's the state of visual scripting platforms? Is there a good one, good enough to build a standalone tracker with a sample recorder and editor (that could for example run on an SBC), that's not insanely difficult to learn compared to something like Clickteam Fusion (which I do have some past experience with, but don't imagine being useful in this scenario)?

I've been sketching, fantasizing about a handheld tracker groovebox that makes more intuitive sense to me than the ones on the market (Polyend Tracker Mini, PicoTracker Advance, Dirtywave M8...). Nothing too complicated, at least not in terms of core functionality, but something that...has the buttons you'd want, and a very straightforward, flexible workflow that makes it quick and easy and *fun* to use in a variety of ways. Obviously, there's no one-step process to making that a reality, but the first thing to make would just be a proof of concept software prototype, where the buttons and encoders are just QWERTY keyboard mappings. And I've pretty much mapped the functions and sample editing modes and buttons and everything out, some in my mind and some in concept art. The problem is, I've hit the skill wall... Other than the fact that I *could* write out a concept user manual for the imaginary device if I wanted to, but that doesn't make it real. So now I'm wondering if learning programming (on whatever platform can be recommended) to get to the soft proof of concept is worth trying, or if that learning curve is so steep that all I can do is try to find a trustworthy collaborator who knows how to turn ideas into code, which I don't know if I can afford at a stage where turning the idea into a business is distant at most, or sign up for a cloud-based LLM subscription service and try "vibe coding", which I'd rather not do if there's a better option. And I don't know if there's any already-existing company that's interested in taking pitches from random musicians.

So...can anybody share with me some wisdom on this topic? I'm a good learner when interested, but I want to be realistic about the learning curve and consider all options, but I can't really properly consider the options if I can't rank them, so that's the first thing I need help with.

[Mozart von Robot]

After a bit of research, I'm thinking PlugData is where I should start. That seems accessible and should be able to do what I need, with a surmountable learning curve.

[majkol]

Hi there!

Plugdata doesn't seem like a bad choice if you want to get a prototype together fast. That will teach you the basic thinking of many visual audio programming environments. The nice part is that there are a bunch of these developed for various types of microcontrollers too, see for instance https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/td_libs_Audio.html or https://www.zrna.org/akso. From there there's a tiny bit of soldering, 3D printing, debugging and cursing to be performed, but it's a very real and not overly hard way of getting to that hand held groovebox.