Novice Use of the Java Programming Language
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| Title: | Novice Use of the Java Programming Language |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Brown, Neil C. C. (ORCID |
| Source: | ACM Transactions on Computing Education. Mar 2023 23(1). |
| Availability: | Association for Computing Machinery. 2 Penn Plaza Suite 701, New York, NY 10121. Tel: 800-342-6626; Tel: 212-626-0500; Fax: 212-944-1318; e-mail: acmhelp@acm.org; Web site: http://toce.acm.org/ |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 24 |
| Publication Date: | 2023 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Descriptors: | Novices, Programming, Programming Languages, Data, Data Analysis, Individual Characteristics, Difficulty Level, Behavior, Behavior Patterns, Computer Science Education |
| DOI: | 10.1145/3551393 |
| ISSN: | 1946-6226 |
| Abstract: | Objectives: Java is a popular programming language for use in computing education, but it is difficult to get a wide picture of the issues that it presents for novices; most studies look only at the types or frequency of errors. In this observational study, we aim to learn how novices use different features of the Java language. Participants: Users of the BlueJ development environment have been invited to opt in to anonymously record their activity data for the past 8 years. This dataset is called Blackbox, which was used as the basis for this study. BlueJ users are mostly novice programmers, predominantly male, with a median age of 16 years. Our data subset featured approximately 225,000 participants from around the world. Study Methods: We performed a secondary data analysis that used data from the Blackbox dataset. We examined over 320,000 Java projects collected over the course of 8 years and used source code analysis to investigate the prevalence of various specifically selected Java programming usage patterns. As this was an observational study without specific hypotheses, we did not use significance tests. Instead, we present the results themselves with commentary, having applied seasonal trend decomposition to the data. Findings: We found many long-term trends in the data over the course of the 8 years, most of which were monotonic. There was a notable reduction in the use of the main method (common in Java but unnecessary in BlueJ) and a general reduction in the complexity of the projects. We find that there is only a small number of frequently used types: int, String, double, and Boolean, but also a wide range of other infrequently used types. Conclusions: We find that programming usage patterns gradually change over a long period of time (a period in which the Java language was not seeing major changes) once seasonal patterns are accounted for. Any changes are likely driven by instructors and the changing demographics of programming novices. The novices use a relatively restricted subset of Java, which implies that designers of languages specifically targeted at novices can satisfy their needs with a smaller set of language constructs and features. We provide detailed recommendations for the designers of educational programming languages and supporting development tools. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2023 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1381305 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 |
|---|---|
| Header | DbId: eric DbLabel: ERIC An: EJ1381305 AccessLevel: 3 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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C.</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6086-2479">0000-0001-6086-2479</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Weill-Tessier%2C+Pierre%22">Weill-Tessier, Pierre</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-8767">0000-0002-6999-8767</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Sekula%2C+Maksymilian%22">Sekula, Maksymilian</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0687-5548">0000-0003-0687-5548</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Costache%2C+Alexandra-Lucia%22">Costache, Alexandra-Lucia</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5640-3429">0000-0002-5640-3429</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Kölling%2C+Michael%22">Kölling, Michael</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0544-2003">0000-0003-0544-2003</externalLink>) – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22ACM+Transactions+on+Computing+Education%22"><i>ACM Transactions on Computing Education</i></searchLink>. Mar 2023 23(1). – Name: Avail Label: Availability Group: Avail Data: Association for Computing Machinery. 2 Penn Plaza Suite 701, New York, NY 10121. Tel: 800-342-6626; Tel: 212-626-0500; Fax: 212-944-1318; e-mail: acmhelp@acm.org; Web site: http://toce.acm.org/ – Name: PeerReviewed Label: Peer Reviewed Group: SrcInfo Data: Y – Name: Pages Label: Page Count Group: Src Data: 24 – Name: DatePubCY Label: Publication Date Group: Date Data: 2023 – Name: TypeDocument Label: Document Type Group: TypDoc Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research – Name: Subject Label: Descriptors Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Novices%22">Novices</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Programming%22">Programming</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Programming+Languages%22">Programming Languages</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Data%22">Data</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Data+Analysis%22">Data Analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Individual+Characteristics%22">Individual Characteristics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Difficulty+Level%22">Difficulty Level</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Behavior%22">Behavior</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Behavior+Patterns%22">Behavior Patterns</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Computer+Science+Education%22">Computer Science Education</searchLink> – Name: DOI Label: DOI Group: ID Data: 10.1145/3551393 – Name: ISSN Label: ISSN Group: ISSN Data: 1946-6226 – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: Objectives: Java is a popular programming language for use in computing education, but it is difficult to get a wide picture of the issues that it presents for novices; most studies look only at the types or frequency of errors. In this observational study, we aim to learn how novices use different features of the Java language. Participants: Users of the BlueJ development environment have been invited to opt in to anonymously record their activity data for the past 8 years. This dataset is called Blackbox, which was used as the basis for this study. BlueJ users are mostly novice programmers, predominantly male, with a median age of 16 years. Our data subset featured approximately 225,000 participants from around the world. Study Methods: We performed a secondary data analysis that used data from the Blackbox dataset. We examined over 320,000 Java projects collected over the course of 8 years and used source code analysis to investigate the prevalence of various specifically selected Java programming usage patterns. As this was an observational study without specific hypotheses, we did not use significance tests. Instead, we present the results themselves with commentary, having applied seasonal trend decomposition to the data. Findings: We found many long-term trends in the data over the course of the 8 years, most of which were monotonic. There was a notable reduction in the use of the main method (common in Java but unnecessary in BlueJ) and a general reduction in the complexity of the projects. We find that there is only a small number of frequently used types: int, String, double, and Boolean, but also a wide range of other infrequently used types. Conclusions: We find that programming usage patterns gradually change over a long period of time (a period in which the Java language was not seeing major changes) once seasonal patterns are accounted for. Any changes are likely driven by instructors and the changing demographics of programming novices. The novices use a relatively restricted subset of Java, which implies that designers of languages specifically targeted at novices can satisfy their needs with a smaller set of language constructs and features. We provide detailed recommendations for the designers of educational programming languages and supporting development tools. – Name: AbstractInfo Label: Abstractor Group: Ab Data: As Provided – Name: DateEntry Label: Entry Date Group: Date Data: 2023 – Name: AN Label: Accession Number Group: ID Data: EJ1381305 |
| PLink | https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=eric&AN=EJ1381305 |
| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1145/3551393 Languages: – Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 24 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Novices Type: general – SubjectFull: Programming Type: general – SubjectFull: Programming Languages Type: general – SubjectFull: Data Type: general – SubjectFull: Data Analysis Type: general – SubjectFull: Individual Characteristics Type: general – SubjectFull: Difficulty Level Type: general – SubjectFull: Behavior Type: general – SubjectFull: Behavior Patterns Type: general – SubjectFull: Computer Science Education Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Novice Use of the Java Programming Language Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Brown, Neil C. C. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Weill-Tessier, Pierre – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Sekula, Maksymilian – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Costache, Alexandra-Lucia – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Kölling, Michael IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 03 Type: published Y: 2023 Identifiers: – Type: issn-electronic Value: 1946-6226 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 23 – Type: issue Value: 1 Titles: – TitleFull: ACM Transactions on Computing Education Type: main |
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