- Sponsor:
- sigplan
Programming languages exist to enable programmers to develop software effectively. But how efficiently programmers can write software depends on the usability of the languages and tools that they develop with. The aim of this workshop is to discuss methods, metrics and techniques for evaluating the usability of languages and language tools. The supposed benefits of such languages and tools cover a large space, including making programs easier to read, write, and maintain; allowing programmers to write more flexible and powerful programs; and restricting programs to make them more safe and secure. We plan to gather the intersection of researchers in the programming language, programming tool, and human-computer interaction communities to share their research and discuss the future of evaluation and usability of programming languages and tools. We are also interested in the input of other members of the programming research community working on related areas, such as refactoring, design patterns, program analysis, program comprehension, software visualization, end-user programming, and other programming language paradigms.
Proceeding Downloads
Using CogTool to model programming tasks
In this paper, we describe the use of CogTool, a tool that enables non-psychologists to create cognitive models of user tasks from which reliable estimates of skilled user task times can be derived. We show how CogTool was used to compare a new parallel ...
User evaluation of correctness conditions: a case study of cooperability
In order to find and fix concurrency bugs, programmers must reason about different possible thread interleavings -- context switches may occur at any program point, all with the potential for thread interference. To reduce the number of thread ...
Improving API documentation for Java-like languages
The Javadoc paradigm for displaying API documentation to users is quite popular, with similar variants existing for many mainstream languages. However, two user interface design properties of Javadoc may reduce its utility when displaying documentation ...
Measuring the efficacy of code clone information: an empirical study
Much recent research effort has been devoted to designing efficient code clone detection algorithms and tools. However, there has been little human-based empirical study of how the output of those tools is used by developers when performing maintenance ...
The API walkthrough method: a lightweight method for getting early feedback about an API
We propose a method for evaluating the usability of an Application Programming Interface (API) in the context of MATLAB, a high-level programming language. The primary goal is to evaluate whether the participant can develop an accurate mental model of ...
Toward transforming freely available source code into usable learning materials for end-users
The availability of example source code on the web presents an array of potential learning resources for any code consumer. However not all code consumers may find these resources usable. With end-user programmers increasingly relying on example code on ...
Staking claims: a history of programming language design claims and evidence: a positional work in progress
While still a relatively young field, computer science has a vast body of knowledge in the domain of programming languages. When a new language is introduced, its designers make claims which distinguish their language from previous languages. However, ...
Hard-to-answer questions about code
To build new tools and programming languages that make it easier for professional software developers to create, debug, and understand code, it is helpful to better understand the questions that developers ask during coding activities. We surveyed ...
Comparing the usability of library vs. language approaches to task parallelism
In this paper, we compare the usability of a library approach with a language approach to task parallelism. There are many practical advantages and disadvantages to both approaches. A key advantage of a library-based approach is that it can be deployed ...
GoHotDraw: evaluating the Go programming language with design patterns
Go, a new programming language backed by Google, has the potential for widespread use: it deserves an evaluation. Design patterns are records of idiomatic programming practice and inform programmers about good program design. In this study, we evaluate ...
- Evaluation and Usability of Programming Languages and Tools
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Acceptance Rates
| Year | Submitted | Accepted | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| PLATEAU '14 | 8 | 5 | 63% |
| Overall | 8 | 5 | 63% |