A Theory of Program Comprehension – Joining Vision Science and Program Comprehension

A Theory of Program Comprehension – Joining Vision Science and Program Comprehension. Gu�h�neuc, Y. Technical Report 1267, University of Montreal, December, 2005. 26 pages.

Paper abstract bibtex

There exists an extensive literature on vision science, on the one hand, and on program comprehension, on the other hand. However, these two domains of research have been so far rather disjoint. Indeed, several cognitive theories have been proposed to explain program comprehension. These theories explain the processes taking place in the software engineers' minds when they understand programs. They explain how software engineers process available information to perform their tasks but not how software engineers acquire this information. Vision science provides explanations on the processes used by people to acquire visual information from their environment. Joining vision science and program comprehension provides a more comprehensive theoretical framework to explain facts on program comprehension, to predict new facts, and to frame experiments. We join theories in vision science and in program comprehension; the resulting theory is consistent with facts on program comprehension and helps in predicting new facts, in devising experiments, and in putting certain program comprehension concepts in perspective.

@TECHREPORT{Gueheneuc05-TR-VisionComprehension,
   AUTHOR       = {Yann-Ga�l Gu�h�neuc},
   INSTITUTION  = {University of Montreal},
   TITLE        = {A Theory of Program Comprehension &ndash; Joining Vision 
      Science and Program Comprehension},
   YEAR         = {2005},
   OPTADDRESS   = {},
   MONTH        = {December},
   NOTE         = {26 pages.},
   NUMBER       = {1267},
   OPTTYPE      = {},
   KEYWORDS     = {Topic: <b>Program comprehension</b>, 
      Rubrique : <b>compr�hension de programme</b>},
   URL          = {http://www.ptidej.net/publications/documents/Research+report+Vision+Comprehension+December05.doc.pdf},
   ABSTRACT     = {There exists an extensive literature on vision science, 
      on the one hand, and on program comprehension, on the other hand. 
      However, these two domains of research have been so far rather 
      disjoint. Indeed, several cognitive theories have been proposed to 
      explain program comprehension. These theories explain the processes 
      taking place in the software engineers' minds when they understand 
      programs. They explain how software engineers process available 
      information to perform their tasks but not how software engineers 
      acquire this information. Vision science provides explanations on the 
      processes used by people to acquire visual information from their 
      environment. Joining vision science and program comprehension 
      provides a more comprehensive theoretical framework to explain facts 
      on program comprehension, to predict new facts, and to frame 
      experiments. We join theories in vision science and in program 
      comprehension; the resulting theory is consistent with facts on 
      program comprehension and helps in predicting new facts, in devising 
      experiments, and in putting certain program comprehension concepts in 
      perspective.}
}

Downloads: 0

{"_id":"C6ZtjYA3K5Z5KgAsr","bibbaseid":"guhneuc-atheoryofprogramcomprehensionndashjoiningvisionscienceandprogramcomprehension-2005","author_short":["Gu�h�neuc, Y."],"bibdata":{"bibtype":"techreport","type":"techreport","author":[{"firstnames":["Yann-Ga�l"],"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Gu�h�neuc"],"suffixes":[]}],"institution":"University of Montreal","title":"A Theory of Program Comprehension – Joining Vision Science and Program Comprehension","year":"2005","optaddress":"","month":"December","note":"26 pages.","number":"1267","opttype":"","keywords":"Topic: Program comprehension, Rubrique : compr�hension de programme","url":"http://www.ptidej.net/publications/documents/Research+report+Vision+Comprehension+December05.doc.pdf","abstract":"There exists an extensive literature on vision science, on the one hand, and on program comprehension, on the other hand. However, these two domains of research have been so far rather disjoint. Indeed, several cognitive theories have been proposed to explain program comprehension. These theories explain the processes taking place in the software engineers' minds when they understand programs. They explain how software engineers process available information to perform their tasks but not how software engineers acquire this information. Vision science provides explanations on the processes used by people to acquire visual information from their environment. Joining vision science and program comprehension provides a more comprehensive theoretical framework to explain facts on program comprehension, to predict new facts, and to frame experiments. We join theories in vision science and in program comprehension; the resulting theory is consistent with facts on program comprehension and helps in predicting new facts, in devising experiments, and in putting certain program comprehension concepts in perspective.","bibtex":"@TECHREPORT{Gueheneuc05-TR-VisionComprehension,\r\n AUTHOR = {Yann-Ga�l Gu�h�neuc},\r\n INSTITUTION = {University of Montreal},\r\n TITLE = {A Theory of Program Comprehension – Joining Vision \r\n Science and Program Comprehension},\r\n YEAR = {2005},\r\n OPTADDRESS = {},\r\n MONTH = {December},\r\n NOTE = {26 pages.},\r\n NUMBER = {1267},\r\n OPTTYPE = {},\r\n KEYWORDS = {Topic: Program comprehension, \r\n Rubrique : compr�hension de programme},\r\n URL = {http://www.ptidej.net/publications/documents/Research+report+Vision+Comprehension+December05.doc.pdf},\r\n ABSTRACT = {There exists an extensive literature on vision science, \r\n on the one hand, and on program comprehension, on the other hand. \r\n However, these two domains of research have been so far rather \r\n disjoint. Indeed, several cognitive theories have been proposed to \r\n explain program comprehension. These theories explain the processes \r\n taking place in the software engineers' minds when they understand \r\n programs. They explain how software engineers process available \r\n information to perform their tasks but not how software engineers \r\n acquire this information. Vision science provides explanations on the \r\n processes used by people to acquire visual information from their \r\n environment. Joining vision science and program comprehension \r\n provides a more comprehensive theoretical framework to explain facts \r\n on program comprehension, to predict new facts, and to frame \r\n experiments. We join theories in vision science and in program \r\n comprehension; the resulting theory is consistent with facts on \r\n program comprehension and helps in predicting new facts, in devising \r\n experiments, and in putting certain program comprehension concepts in \r\n perspective.}\r\n}\r\n\r\n","author_short":["Gu�h�neuc, Y."],"key":"Gueheneuc05-TR-VisionComprehension","id":"Gueheneuc05-TR-VisionComprehension","bibbaseid":"guhneuc-atheoryofprogramcomprehensionndashjoiningvisionscienceandprogramcomprehension-2005","role":"author","urls":{"Paper":"http://www.ptidej.net/publications/documents/Research+report+Vision+Comprehension+December05.doc.pdf"},"keyword":["Topic: Program comprehension","Rubrique : compr�hension de programme"],"metadata":{"authorlinks":{}}},"bibtype":"techreport","biburl":"http://www.yann-gael.gueheneuc.net/Work/Publications/Biblio/complete-bibliography.bib","dataSources":["8vn5MSGYWB4fAx9Z4"],"keywords":["topic: program comprehension","rubrique : compr�hension de programme"],"search_terms":["theory","program","comprehension","ndash","joining","vision","science","program","comprehension","gu�h�neuc"],"title":"A Theory of Program Comprehension – Joining Vision Science and Program Comprehension","year":2005}