When a programming language

Programming language

A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....

 is originally designed without any syntax to nest function calls, pipeline programming is a simple syntax change to add it. The programmer connects notional program modules into a flow structure, by analogy to a physical pipeline carrying reaction products through a chemical

Chemical plant

A chemical plant is an industrial process plant that manufactures chemicals, usually on a large scale. The general objective of a chemical plant is to create new material wealth via the chemical or biological transformation and or separation of materials. Chemical plants use special equipment,...

 or other plant. The best-known example is the UNIX pipe system

Pipeline (Unix)

In Unix-like computer operating systems , a pipeline is the original software pipeline: a set of processes chained by their standard streams, so that the output of each process feeds directly as input to the next one. Each connection is implemented by an anonymous pipe...

, but many high level software design tools (such as the openDX

OpenDX

OpenDX stands for Open Data Explorer and is IBM's scientific data visualization software. It can handle complex domains along with measured or computed data...

 display suite) provide a GUI

Gui

Gui or guee is a generic term to refer to grilled dishes in Korean cuisine. These most commonly have meat or fish as their primary ingredient, but may in some cases also comprise grilled vegetables or other vegetarian ingredients. The term derives from the verb, "gupda" in Korean, which literally...

 pipeline programming tool that helps visualize data flow through the program. A Data Flow Diagram

Data flow diagram

A data flow diagram is a graphical representation of the "flow" of data through an information system, modelling its process aspects. Often they are a preliminary step used to create an overview of the system which can later be elaborated...

 (DFD) maps well to pipeline programming. Note that exception handling can be one of the weak points.

See also

• Pipeline (software)
  Pipeline (software)
  In software engineering, a pipeline consists of a chain of processing elements , arranged so that the output of each element is the input of the next. Usually some amount of buffering is provided between consecutive elements...
  
  
• Hartmann pipeline
  Hartmann pipeline
  A Hartmann pipeline is an extension of the Unix pipeline concept, providing for more complex paths, multiple input/output streams, and other features. It is an example and extension of Pipeline programming....
  
  
• Function composition
  Function composition (computer science)
  In computer science, function composition is an act or mechanism to combine simple functions to build more complicated ones...
  
  
• Architecture description language
  Architecture description language
  Different communities use the term architecture description language. Some important communities are the system engineering community, the software engineering community and the enterprise modelling and engineering community...
  
  
• Scripting language
  Scripting language
  A scripting language, script language, or extension language is a programming language that allows control of one or more applications. "Scripts" are distinct from the core code of the application, as they are usually written in a different language and are often created or at least modified by the...