Abstract:
This paper reports an experiment concerned with the comprehension of briefly viewed objectoriented programs. The results of this study suggest that experts are able to quickly and accurately extract object-oriented information from briefly presented programs. However, as presentation length increases, there is no difference between novices and experts in terms of different comprehension categories. The results presented here may support the claims made about the naturalness of objectoriented programming with state and operation informatiom predominating in expert’s representations of such programs. This in turn is seen as reflecting salient object-oriented features of the code. However, the data also suggests that some caution is required in assessing claims about the psychological 'naturalnes' of object-oriented programs.
PPIG 2000 - 12th Annual Workshop
Expertise and the comprehension of object-oriented programs