Debugging Techniques Used by Experienced Programmers to Debug Their Own Code.

Abstract

The present research examines professional programmers' attitudes toward interactive debuggers and studies the techniques they use in debugging their own code. Professional programmers were asked to fill out a questionnaire regarding their use and evaluation of debuggers. The programmers were then asked to code and debug three programming tasks. Protocol data, videotapes, and intermediate versions of the source code were used to analyze debugging techniques. The results suggest that available debuggers meet programmers' functional requirements, but the presentation of the debuggers needs to be improved. Implications for future debugger development are discussed. (KR)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 1990
Accession Number
ADA229093

Entities

People

  • Pamela M. Merrick

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Cognition
  • Computer Programming
  • Computer Programs
  • Computers
  • Debugging
  • Operating Systems
  • Programming Languages
  • Psychology
  • Software Development
  • Software Development Tools
  • Software Metrics
  • Software Testing
  • Task Performance And Analysis
  • Thinking
  • Training

Fields of Study

  • Computer science

Readers

  • Computer Science.
  • Instructional Design and Training Evaluation.