Novices' Debugging Behaviors in VB Programming

This study investigates the debugging behaviors of novices in the Visual Basic (VB) programming environment. To understand how novice programmers solve debugging problems, we employed a mixed-method, which used both quantitative and qualitative data, including a questionnaire survey and a debugging-...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in2013 Learning and Teaching in Computing and Engineering (LaTiCE) pp. 25 - 30
Main Authors Mei-Wen Chen, Cheng-Chih Wu, Yu-Tzu Lin
Format Conference Proceeding
LanguageEnglish
Published IEEE 01.03.2013
Subjects
Computer bugs
Debugging
Educational institutions
Interviews
Novice programmer
Programming profession
Visual Basic
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ISBN1467356271
9781467356275
DOI10.1109/LaTiCE.2013.38

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Summary:This study investigates the debugging behaviors of novices in the Visual Basic (VB) programming environment. To understand how novice programmers solve debugging problems, we employed a mixed-method, which used both quantitative and qualitative data, including a questionnaire survey and a debugging-behaviors analysis. Seventy-two students from a vocational high school in Taipei participated in the study. The results indicated that most students believed debugging skill is due to individual aptitude and cannot be developed through learning. Most students did not employ debugging tools provided in Visual Basic environment or even were aware of the existence of the tools. Although most students enjoyed the achievement of resolving bugs, they disliked the challenge of debugging.
ISBN:1467356271
9781467356275
DOI:10.1109/LaTiCE.2013.38