License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (CC BY 3.0)
When quoting this document, please refer to the following
DOI: 10.4230/OASIcs.ICPEC.2020.28
URN: urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-123159
URL: http://dagstuhl.sunsite.rwth-aachen.de/volltexte/2020/12315/
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Vasconcelos, Pedro ; Ribeiro, Rita P.

Using Property-Based Testing to Generate Feedback for C Programming Exercises

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OASIcs-ICPEC-2020-28.pdf (0.4 MB)

Abstract

This paper reports on the use of property-based testing for providing feedback to C programming exercises. Test cases are generated automatically from properties specified in a test script; this not only makes it possible to conduct many tests (thus potentially find more mistakes), but also allows simplifying failed tests cases automatically.
We present some experimental validation gathered for an introductory C programming course during the fall semester of 2018 that show significant positive correlations between getting feedback during the semester and the student’s results in the final exam. We also discuss some limitations regarding feedback for undefined behaviors in the C language.

BibTeX - Entry

@InProceedings{vasconcelos_et_al:OASIcs:2020:12315,
  author =	{Pedro Vasconcelos and Rita P. Ribeiro},
  title =	{{Using Property-Based Testing to Generate Feedback for C Programming Exercises}},
  booktitle =	{First International Computer Programming Education Conference (ICPEC 2020)},
  pages =	{28:1--28:10},
  series =	{OpenAccess Series in Informatics (OASIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-153-5},
  ISSN =	{2190-6807},
  year =	{2020},
  volume =	{81},
  editor =	{Ricardo Queir{\'o}s and Filipe Portela and M{\'a}rio Pinto and Alberto Sim{\~o}es},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl--Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/opus/volltexte/2020/12315},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-123159},
  doi =		{10.4230/OASIcs.ICPEC.2020.28},
  annote =	{Keywords: property-based testing, C language, Haskell language, teaching programming}
}

Keywords: property-based testing, C language, Haskell language, teaching programming
Collection: First International Computer Programming Education Conference (ICPEC 2020)
Issue Date: 2020
Date of publication: 15.06.2020

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