Combining reverse debugging and live programming towards visual thinking in computer programming

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT : Interaction plays a key role in the process of learning, and a learner's abilitiesare enhanced when multiple cognitive functions work in parallel, especiallythose related to language and visuals. Time is the most fundamental variablethat governs the interaction between programmer and computer, and thesubstantial temporal separation of cause and effect leads to poor mental models.Furthermore, programmers do not have means by which to express theirmental models.The feasibility of combining reverse debugging and live programming wastherefore investigated. This combination was found to be feasible, and a reversedebugger with higher levels of liveness was created for the Python programminglanguage. It establishes a foundation for combining language andvisual models as aids in computer programming education.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University