[nikofeyn]

i think that's a little off. there is no reason why visual programming cannot be version-able and comparable, and in some cases it is. labview has some facilities for this, however, i will concede they could be better.

but there is no inherent reason why text is better at this than visual programs. it's just that people haven't done it, which is the issue. everyone just assumes text is the natural way to interact with a computer, but yet most people forget they went through a lot of training, formal or informal, to get to that perspective. and one could argue that comparing text is not as good as comparing the differences between visual programs because the latter actually contains structure and relationships of how things are called more readily.

what you describe with two side-by-side windows of the same VI (i.e., function or code block or whatever) is exactly something that i have done with labview. a better visual comparator is not beyond reach.