The Role of Working Memory in Program Tracing · HackerPapers discussions

The Role of Working Memory in Program Tracing — mentioned by memorythought

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 15:36:04 GMT

This paper[1] suggests that there is a 50/50 split amongst programmers in the way in which they trace programs: > Given a straight-line program, we find half of our participants traced a program from the top-down line-by-line (linearly), and the other half start at the bottom and trace upward based on data dependencies (on-demand) So it's possible that both viewpoints are correct in some sense and we should pursue languages which allow us to switch between the two viewpoints. [1] https://arxiv.org/abs/2101.06305

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.

The Role of Working Memory in Program Tracing — mentioned by wcrichton

Wed, 05 Jul 2023 22:11:00 GMT

For the curious, I have done some experiments on working memory and programming: https://arxiv.org/abs/2101.06305 > Program tracing, or mentally simulating a program on concrete inputs, is an important part of general program comprehension. Programs involve many kinds of virtual state that must be held in memory, such as variable/value pairs and a call stack. In this work, we examine the influence of short-term working memory (WM) on a person's ability to remember program state during tracing. [...]

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.

The Role of Working Memory in Program Tracing — HN submission

Fri, 29 Jan 2021 17:05:31 GMT

The Role of Working Memory in Program Tracing

1 point; 0 discussion replies on HN. Paper and source history. A submission is not an endorsement.

The Role of Working Memory in Program Tracing — HN submission

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 16:42:57 GMT

The Role of Working Memory in Program Tracing

2 points; 0 discussion replies on HN. Paper and source history. A submission is not an endorsement.

The Role of Working Memory in Program Tracing — HN submission

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 00:11:24 GMT

The Role of Working Memory in Program Tracing

1 point; 0 discussion replies on HN. Paper and source history. A submission is not an endorsement.