| Autor: |
Soloway, Elliot, Bonar, Jeffrey, Ehrlich, Kate, Ledgard, Henry F. |
| Předmět: |
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| Zdroj: |
Communications of the ACM; Nov83, Vol. 26 Issue 11, p853-860, 8p, 4 Charts |
| Abstrakt: |
In this paper, we describe a study that tests the following hypothesis: A programming language construct that has a closer "cognitive fit" with an individual's preferred cognitive strategy will be easier to use effectively. After analyzing Pascal programs that employed loops, we identified two distinct looping strategies, on the ith pass through the loop, the ith element is both read and processed (the READ/ PROCESS strategy); and 2). on the ith pass, the ith element is processed and the next ith element is read (the PROCESS/READ strategy). We argue that the loiter strategy is associated with the appropriate use of the Pascal while construct in contrast, we feel that a construct that allows an exit from the middle of the loop (e.g., loop…leave…again) facilitates the former (READ/PROCESS) strategy Our results indicate that subjects overwhelmingly preferred a READ/PROCESS strategy over a PROCESS/READ strategy. When writing a simple looping program, those using the loop…leave… again construct were more often correct than were those using the standard Pascal loop constructs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Databáze: |
Complementary Index |
| Externí odkaz: |
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