## 5 Opportunities, Challenges, and Future Developments of VPL-Based Design
### VPL Design--Challenges
#### 5.2.1 Education at the Elementary and University Level  
Having observed the development of computerized and digitized design technology for many decades, it is impossible to begin a discussion on this topic without mentioning education in this area. Although it may not seem to be closely related to the topic at hand, it is the awareness and level of education of engineers from various industries that determine the prevalence of design support systems such as CAD, which has become an unwritten standard, as well as currently developed and gradually implemented environments and systems such as BIM technology. The development and popularization of modern design support technologies in engineering practice depend on the level of education in their implementation. With regard to visual programming, it should be noted that it is not a common and easily implemented subject in some national educational systems adopted by the faculties that train civil engineers. The main problem is the fact that it does not work in all educational pathways, but only in selected ones, usually related to BIM technology or related fields. Another problem is a kind of substantive or perhaps more mental barrier related to the approach of civil engineering students to programming as such. Although learning one of the basic programming languages in the first semester is common practice, a civil engineering student who is also a programmer is a rarity. At this point, another phenomenon and a kind of contradiction should be noted, because programming is taught at the primary school level, in high schools as part of the computer science subject, and students are introduced to the C++ programming language at an early age. However, it seems that the teaching of programming should be implemented during the studies in construction to a greater extent. In conclusion, the problems discussed above are the basic barriers that effectively limit the future possibilities of using visual programming in engineering practice. These obstacles can certainly be overcome. What is necessary for the development of visual programming is its widespread adoption in the environment of future and practicing engineers. This process may be slow, but it is happening, as at least in some universitiesthe subject of visual programming application in design and practical exercises to learn this technology are being taught. Another way of learning is through training. Recently, there has been an increase in activity in this area. First of all, the range of training courses covering many areas of what is conventionally called computer-aided design is gradually expanding. At the same time, there is an increasing number of companies or institutions offering training that includes the topic of visual programming, mainly in the Dynamo environment with integration into the Revit environment. Online forums and video sites are also important sources of manuals and instructional videos. These are increasingly being incorporated into training. Many examples, such as the construction of trusses or complex bridges (e.g., the Helix Bridge) and the corresponding dynamo scripts, are available online free of charge and can be adapted for personal use. All this applies both to the idea of visual programming orientated towards the modeling of building objects and to the \"programming\" of subbranches, e.g., infrastructure. With regard to the development of this field, the issue of continuous training, not only for designers but also for engineers already working in the profession, should be highlighted in a positive way. Such a path of competence development is in line with the trend of the Western model, where an engineer (and not only) acquires his or her competences through self-improvement in the form of training courses, postgraduate studies, complementary studies, or even studies in other fields, or even pursuing a doctorate. This is another area and direction in which the development and popularization of visual programming as such is heading.