Course pages 2015–16
Usability of Programming Languages
Lecture notes
Current research resources
Online proceedings of workshops of the Psychology of Programming Interest Group
Review by Ko et al (2011) on the state of the art in end-user software engineering.
Research with human participants
See Cambridge online guidance related to human participants in technology research.
Research methods
Note that the Cairns and Cox textbook Research Methods for Human-Computer Interaction is available online from Cambridge core: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511814570
Practical guide to controlled experiments
Introduction to controlled experiments in software engineering by Ko et al.
Course text
J.-M. Hoc, T.R.G. Green, R. Samurçay and D.J. Gilmore (Eds) (1990).
Psychology of Programming.
Published by the European Association of Cognitive Ergonomics and Academic Press.
Part 1 - Theoretical and Methodological Issues (introduction)
- 1.1 Programming, Programming Languages and Programming Methods - C. Pair (pp. 9-19)
- 1.2 The Nature of Programming - T.R.G. Green (pp. 23-44)
- 1.3 The Tasks of Programming - N. Pennington and B. Grabowski (pp. 45-62)
- 1.4 Human Cognition and Programming - T. Ormerod (pp. 63-82)
- 1.5 Methodological Issues in the Study of Programming - D.J. Gilmore (pp. 83-98)
Part 2 Language Design and Acquisition of Programming (introduction)
- 2.1 Expert Programmers and Programming Languages - M. Petre (pp. 103-115)
- 2.2 Programming Languages as Information Structures - T.R.G. Green (pp. 118-137)
- 2.3 Language Semantics, Mental Models and Analogy - J.-M. Hoc and A. Nguyen-Xuan (pp. 139-156)
- 2.4 Acquisition of Programming Knowledge and Skills - J. Rogalski and R. Samurçay (pp. 157-174)
- 2.5 Programming Languages in Education: The Search for an Easy Start - P. Mendelsohn, T.R.G. Green and P. Brna (pp. 175-200)
Part 3 Expert Programming Skills and Job Aids (introduction)
- 3.1 Expert Programming Knowledge: A Schema-based Approach - F. Détienne (pp. 205-222)
- 3.2 Expert Programming Knowledge: A Strategic Approach - D.J. Gilmore (pp. 223-234)
- 3.3 Expert Software Design Strategies - W. Visser and J.-M. Hoc (pp. 235-249)
Part 4 Broader Issues
- 4.1 The Psychology of Programming in the Large: Team and Organizational Behaviour - B. Curtis and D. Walz (pp. 253-270)
- 4.2 Research and Practice: Software Design Methods and Tools - B. Kitchenham and R. Carn. (pp 271-284)
Note on copyright: This book is currently not available in print. A selection of chapters has been provided, with the permission of the editors, for non-commercial educational and research use only. Members of the Psychology of Programming Interest Group (PPIG) continue to conduct research as outlined here, and it is intended that specific chapters will be replaced with updated versions when individual authors are able to provide them. Volunteer assistance with OCR of these chapters, to assist those authors who no longer have their original manuscripts, would be appreciated.