To create and experiment with a programming tool that significantly reduces the time required for an iteration of the feedback loop between traditional text-based code editors and domain-specific editors (including visual program editors). I believe that by creating such a programming tool:
Polytope is an experimental code editor that enables you to embed direct-manipulation domain-specific editors into a traditional text-based code editor. Actually that's only half of the story — Polytope doesn't draw a distinction between text-based code editors and domain-specific editors, they are all just editors. That means that with Polytope you can embed any editor in any editor (that allows for embedding), and you can embed editors in editors in editors... and so on. Polytope produces text-based source code (JavaScript for now) just like a traditional code editor.
Polytope will also have an API that makes it easy to create these embeddable editors.
That doesn't totally make sense? Don't blame you. Here's a demo: