How Noodle Works
The simplest way to understand noodle is as nested mind-maps. Think of an ordinary mind-map. Nodes correspond to concepts and they are linked in a meaningful way to create a network. In noodle, you can “go into” any one of these nodes and create another mind-map.
Nodes can also be files of any kind. So you can create elaborate and perfectly interoperable structures using your favourite tools.
More on filesystem integration.
An alternative interpretation of the nested mind-maps is as a multiplex graph.
In math a multiplex graph is a network of nodes where there is more than one type of link between nodes.
In noodle we think of the multiplex graph as a set of independent layers. Each layer is a mind-map. Like photoshop layers but for networked thinking. You can use these layers (or mulitple mind-maps) to segregate or superimpose different parts of the network for all sorts of useful purposes.
Any node can be connected to any other node on any layer.
When you’re looking at a noodle, it’s usually only a subset of nodes and a subset of layers. That way the structure you’re working with stays manageable.
If you’ve wrapped your head around nested mind-maps and the layered-network interpretation, you’re ready for the central idea in noodle.
A file in the working directory, a node in the multiplex graph, and a layer in the multiplex graph are all actually a unified concept in noodle. We call it a doodle.
At minimum a doodle is only a label, a word or a short phrase that represents an idea. Doodles can correspond to a file. Actually, every file in the working directory is represented by a doodle. Excepting cases of file occlusion, doodles are a superset of the files in the working directory.
Doodles can be linked on any layer of the multiplex graph. When a doodle is linked we refer to that as the external structure of the doodle.
Doodles are also each a layer in the multiplex graph onto themselves. So when there are links in a doodle’s layer, or rather, when there are links in a doodle, we refer to that as the doodle’s internal structure.
This intuition about “in” and “out” of doodles is used throughout noodle and especially for navigation.