Icobjs programming is a simple and visual programming method, using a powerful means to combine behaviors. This kind of programming is based on the notion of an icobj which stands for Iconic Object. This means that an icobj has:

• an iconic aspect: a graphical part
• an object aspect: data and behavioral part.

The behavior can animate the icobj. For example, the behavior of the small apple consists, at each activation, in moving to the right, then to the left. To activate it, just double-click on it. Try it!

The behavior is a reactive one. Icobjs is a "kind of front-end" for Junior programming. Programming with Icobjs is easier. For the moment, Icobjs is an API which allows to create application or applet which will be used by End-users. So, End-users needn't learn a textual syntax, they only build new icobjs graphically using icobjs which are in the application/applet. Icobjs is as powerful as Junior, it provides parallelism, broadcast event communication and migration.

Rectangles in which icobjs appear are called Workspace. Here the workspace is displayed in an applet. Different properties of icobj can change, for example, size, color, and appearance, as shown with the two following applets:
- when you double-click in the arrow, it moves and then change its appearance, and when you double-click another times, it comes back to its initial position with its initial appearance.
- when you double-click in the heart, its size cyclically increases and decreases, and when you double-click another time, it stops.

In the tutorial, we detail the composition of an icobj and several applets describe the notion of Icobjs and how it can be used.