PPIG 2005 - 17th Annual Workshop
Software Authoring as Design Conversation
Andrée Woodcock, Richard Bartlett
Abstract: The paper outlines a pilot study to investigate whether software authorship1 could be regarded as a design activity, with special reference to ‘reflective practice.’ Verbal protocols collected from software authors undertaking a ‘real task’ indicated that there was merit in studying programming as a design activity – that different forms of reflection did take place, and that the collection of reflections and moments of surprise may lead to a greater understanding of both design and the nature of software authorship. This could be used to inform education and the development of software authoring support tools.