License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0)
When quoting this document, please refer to the following
DOI: 10.4230/DagRep.12.1.119
URN: urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-169246
URL: http://dagstuhl.sunsite.rwth-aachen.de/volltexte/2022/16924/
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Becker, Brett A. ; Denny, Paul ; Siegmund, Janet ; Stefik, Andreas ; Santos, Eddie Antonio
Weitere Beteiligte (Hrsg. etc.): Brett A. Becker and Paul Denny and Janet Siegmund and Andreas Stefik and Eddie Antonio Santos

The Human Factors Impact of Programming Error Messages (Dagstuhl Seminar 22052)

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dagrep_v012_i001_p119_22052.pdf (4 MB)

Abstract

The impacts of many human factors on how people program are poorly understood and present significant challenges for work on improving programmer productivity and effective techniques for teaching and learning programming. Programming error messages are one factor that is particularly problematic, with a documented history of evidence dating back over 50 years. Such messages, commonly called compiler error messages, present difficulties for programmers with diverse demographic backgrounds. It is generally agreed that these messages could be more effective for all users, making this an obvious and high-impact area to target for improving programming outcomes. This report documents the program and the outputs of Dagstuhl Seminar 22052, "The Human Factors Impact of Programming Error Messages", which explores this problem. In total, 11 on-site participants and 17 remote participants engaged in intensive collaboration during the seminar, including discussing past and current research, identifying gaps, and developing ways to move forward collaboratively to address these challenges.

BibTeX - Entry

@Article{becker_et_al:DagRep.12.1.119,
  author =	{Becker, Brett A. and Denny, Paul and Siegmund, Janet and Stefik, Andreas and Santos, Eddie Antonio},
  title =	{{The Human Factors Impact of Programming Error Messages (Dagstuhl Seminar 22052)}},
  pages =	{119--130},
  journal =	{Dagstuhl Reports},
  ISSN =	{2192-5283},
  year =	{2022},
  volume =	{12},
  number =	{1},
  editor =	{Becker, Brett A. and Denny, Paul and Siegmund, Janet and Stefik, Andreas and Santos, Eddie Antonio},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/opus/volltexte/2022/16924},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-169246},
  doi =		{10.4230/DagRep.12.1.119},
  annote =	{Keywords: Accessibility; Compilers; Compiler Error Messages; Computer Science Education; Computer-Human Interaction; Computing Education; CS1; Error Messages; HCI; Human Factors; Human Computer Interaction; Novice Programmers; Programming Errors; Programming Error Messages; Programming Languages; Software Engineering; Syntax Errors}
}

Keywords: Accessibility; Compilers; Compiler Error Messages; Computer Science Education; Computer-Human Interaction; Computing Education; CS1; Error Messages; HCI; Human Factors; Human Computer Interaction; Novice Programmers; Programming Errors; Programming Error Messages; Programming Languages; Software Engineering; Syntax Errors
Collection: DagRep, Volume 12, Issue 1
Issue Date: 2022
Date of publication: 23.08.2022

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