TY - GEN
T1 - Exploring novice programmer example use
AU - Ichinco, Michelle
AU - Kelleher, Caitlin
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 IEEE.
PY - 2015/12/14
Y1 - 2015/12/14
N2 - Both experienced and novice programmers use examples while programming, whether from tutorials, forums, or source code. Novice programmers, however, often find it challenging to use unfamiliar example code. Little is known about the challenges of using examples, making it difficult to design support for novice programmer example use. We ran an exploratory study of novices using examples to complete programming tasks. To analyze programming behaviors, we define the 'realization point' as the time when the participants discover the crucial concept in an example. Our results show that participants spent more time after the realization point using the example than they did identifying which part of the example to use. We describe hurdles and strategies, types of tasks behaviors, and finally, implications for supporting example use.
AB - Both experienced and novice programmers use examples while programming, whether from tutorials, forums, or source code. Novice programmers, however, often find it challenging to use unfamiliar example code. Little is known about the challenges of using examples, making it difficult to design support for novice programmer example use. We ran an exploratory study of novices using examples to complete programming tasks. To analyze programming behaviors, we define the 'realization point' as the time when the participants discover the crucial concept in an example. Our results show that participants spent more time after the realization point using the example than they did identifying which part of the example to use. We describe hurdles and strategies, types of tasks behaviors, and finally, implications for supporting example use.
KW - code examples
KW - code reuse
KW - novice programming
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84959924917
U2 - 10.1109/VLHCC.2015.7357199
DO - 10.1109/VLHCC.2015.7357199
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84959924917
T3 - Proceedings of IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC
SP - 63
EP - 71
BT - Proceedings - 2015 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC 2015
A2 - Fleming, Scott D.
A2 - Li, Zhen
A2 - Ermel, Claudia
PB - IEEE Computer Society
T2 - IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC 2015
Y2 - 18 October 2015 through 22 October 2015
ER -