Diagnostic messages generated by compilers and interpreters such as syntax error
messages have been researched for over half of a century. Unfortunately, these messages …

This article is a survey of program visualization systems intended for teaching beginners
about the runtime behavior of computer programs. Our focus is on generic systems that are …

One of the central topics in computing education research (CEdR) is the exploration of how
a person learns their first programming language, also described in terms such as …

Recent studies in the literature have shown that syntax remains a significant barrier to
novice computer science students in the field. While this syntax barrier is known to exist …

This paper describes the new Java memory model, which has been revised as part of Java
5.0. The model specifies the legal behaviors for a multithreaded program; it defines the …

Assertions play an important role in the construction of robust software. Their use in
programming languages dates back to the 1970s. Eiffel, an object-oriented programming …

Sensitive data are increasingly available on-line through the Web and other distributed
protocols. This heightens the need to carefully control access to data. Control means not …

When scripts in untyped languages grow into large programs, maintaining them becomes
difficult. A lack of types in typical scripting languages means that programmers must (re) …

Our research explores what we call compilation behaviour: the programming behaviour a
student engages in while repeatedly editing and compiling their programs. This edit-compile …

A programmable programming language Page 1 62 COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM | MARCH
2018 | VOL. 61 | NO. 3 IN THE IDEAL world, software developers would analyze each problem …