research-article

Asking and Answering Questions during a Programming Change Task

Authors:

Jonathan Sillito,

Gail C. Murphy,

Kris De VolderAuthors Info & Claims

IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, Volume 34, Issue 4

Pages 434 - 451

https://doi.org/10.1109/TSE.2008.26

Published: 01 July 2008 Publication History

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Abstract

Little is known about the specific kinds of questions programmers ask when evolving a code base and how well existing tools support those questions. To better support the activity of programming, answers are needed to three broad research questions: (1) what does a programmer need to know about a code base when evolving a software system? (2) how does a programmer go about finding that information? and (3) how well do existing tools support programmer's in answering those questions? We undertook two qualitative studies of programmers performing change tasks to provide answers to these questions. In this paper, we report on an analysis of the data from these two user studies. This paper makes three key contributions. The first contribution is a catalog of 44 types of questions programmers ask during software evolution tasks. The second contribution is a description of the observed behavior around answering those questions. The third contribution is a description of how existing deployed and proposed tools do, and do not, support answering programmers' questions.

Cited By

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Razzaq ABuckley JLai QYu TBotterweck G(2024)A Systematic Literature Review on the Influence of Enhanced Developer Experience on Developers' Productivity: Factors, Practices, and RecommendationsACM Computing Surveys10.1145/368729957:1(1-46)Online publication date: 7-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3687299
Bianchi AYap ZLertjaturaphat PHenley AMoon KKim Y(2024)Inline Visualization and Manipulation of Real-Time Hardware Log for Supporting Debugging of Embedded ProgramsProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36602508:EICS(1-26)Online publication date: 17-Jun-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3660250
Schroer MKoschke RDig DBryksin TGolubev YBezzubov A(2024)Understanding and Evaluating Developer Behaviour in Programming TasksProceedings of the 1st ACM/IEEE Workshop on Integrated Development Environments10.1145/3643796.3648450(35-39)Online publication date: 20-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3643796.3648450
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Index Terms

Asking and Answering Questions during a Programming Change Task
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Management of computing and information systems
      1. Software management
        Software maintenance
2. Software and its engineering
  1. Software creation and management
    1. Software post-development issues
  2. Software notations and tools

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Traditional software engineering means have been characterized by a rather predictable process in the past. Users tell once and for all exactly what they want. Programmers design the system that will deliver those features. They code it, test it, and ...
Asking and answering questions during a programming change task

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cover image IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering

IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering Volume 34, Issue 4

July 2008

144 pages

ISSN:0098-5589

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Publisher

IEEE Press

Publication History

Published: 01 July 2008

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Razzaq ABuckley JLai QYu TBotterweck G(2024)A Systematic Literature Review on the Influence of Enhanced Developer Experience on Developers' Productivity: Factors, Practices, and RecommendationsACM Computing Surveys10.1145/368729957:1(1-46)Online publication date: 7-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3687299
Bianchi AYap ZLertjaturaphat PHenley AMoon KKim Y(2024)Inline Visualization and Manipulation of Real-Time Hardware Log for Supporting Debugging of Embedded ProgramsProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36602508:EICS(1-26)Online publication date: 17-Jun-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3660250
Schroer MKoschke RDig DBryksin TGolubev YBezzubov A(2024)Understanding and Evaluating Developer Behaviour in Programming TasksProceedings of the 1st ACM/IEEE Workshop on Integrated Development Environments10.1145/3643796.3648450(35-39)Online publication date: 20-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3643796.3648450
Nam DMacvean AMyers BVasilescu B(2024)Understanding Documentation Use Through Log Analysis: A Case Study of Four Cloud ServicesProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642721(1-17)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642721
Horvath AMacvean AMyers B(2024)Meta-Manager: A Tool for Collecting and Exploring Meta Information about CodeProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642676(1-17)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642676
Nam DMacvean AHellendoorn VVasilescu BMyers BRoychoudhury APaiva AAbreu RStorey M(2024)Using an LLM to Help With Code UnderstandingProceedings of the IEEE/ACM 46th International Conference on Software Engineering10.1145/3597503.3639187(1-13)Online publication date: 20-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3597503.3639187
Soria ALopez TSeero EMashhadi NEvans EBurge JVan der Hoek ARoychoudhury APaiva AAbreu RStorey M(2024)Characterizing Software Maintenance Meetings: Information Shared, Discussion Outcomes, and Information CapturedProceedings of the IEEE/ACM 46th International Conference on Software Engineering10.1145/3597503.3623330(1-13)Online publication date: 20-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3597503.3623330
Blanco ACórdova ABergel AAlcocer J(2024)Asking and Answering Questions During Memory ProfilingIEEE Transactions on Software Engineering10.1109/TSE.2024.337712750:5(1096-1117)Online publication date: 13-Mar-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1109/TSE.2024.3377127
Mortara JCollet PDery-Pinna A(2024)Visualization of object-oriented software in a city metaphorJournal of Systems and Software10.1016/j.jss.2023.111876208:COnline publication date: 1-Feb-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.jss.2023.111876
Heinonen ALehtelä BHellas AFagerholm F(2024)Synthesizing research on programmers’ mental models of programs, tasks and concepts — A systematic literature reviewInformation and Software Technology10.1016/j.infsof.2023.107300164:COnline publication date: 10-Jan-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.infsof.2023.107300
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