A survey of literature on the teaching of introductory programming

Pears, Arnold; Seidman, Stephen B.; Malmi, Lauri; Mannila, Linda; Adams, Edward; Bennedsen, Jens; Devlin, Marie; Paterson, James H.

doi:10.1145/1345443.1345441

Cited by 203 publications

(163 citation statements)

References 95 publications

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“…Fig. 2 presents an example where a UPC byte list (for ASCII strings) stores nucleotide characters for sequences reaching two bytes in equivalent length (i.e., a maximum length of 2 16 -1 instead of the default 2 8 -1 -ASCII_16). Since strings are stored as contiguous blocks within a list, removing and replacing can lead to excessive memory waste.…”

Section: Upc Stringsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Java is a leading tool for embedded, web-based, and distributed software due to its rich feature set, which notably includes: its object-oriented paradigm; platform independence (portability); automatic garbage collection (decreasing code complexity and minimizing memory leaks); type safety; built-in networking and multithreading; extensive runtime, error checking, and application profiling to support development; and the Just-in-Time (JIT) compiler of the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), which approaches the speed of natively compiled code [2]- [15]. The developer community is continually expanding -with current estimates at 9 million -and an increasing number of universities offer Java in lieu of, for example, C/C++ [1], [12], [16]- [19]. Since 2001, the TIOBE software index, which uses search engine queries to indicate programming language popularity, has consistently ranked Java in the top two, alternating with C [20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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UPC: Large-Scale Memory Efficient Java Primitive Collections

Hylock¹

2016

JSW

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Abstract:The Java programming language is versatile and robust, however, for large-scale applications with memory intensive processes, much is still to be desired. The public Java Development Kit (JDK) supports neither forcible object destruction nor large collection sizes (limited to 231-1) as found in choice computational languages such as Fortran and C/C++. Within Java's Hotspot, however, the non-public sun.misc.Unsafe class allows such features through basic off-heap functionality. The submitted UPC collections are fully integrated with Unsafe to provide large (i.e., 263-1), destructible arrays, lists, hash sets, hash maps, and matrices, consistent with advanced computational needs. Additionally, a customized version of OpenJDK 1.9 with bulk-operation Unsafe support and companion collections are provided. These tools are compared to Java and extent third-party primitive collections. Testing indicates UPC performs in a consistent to superior manner compared to the state-of-the-art, with greater improvements realized by way of the modified virtual machine.

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Section: Upc Stringsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

UPC: Large-Scale Memory Efficient Java Primitive Collections

Hylock¹

2016

JSW

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“…PAT (Programming Assistance Tool) becomes one of the tools that can be used to support related learning [7]. The use of PAT is believed to motivate the learners due to the learning activities are done as if playing a game.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Study between Robomind and Scratch as Programming Assistance Tool in Improving Understanding of The Basic Programming Concepts

Faisal¹,

Yuana²,

Basori³

2017

Proceedings of the International Conference on Teacher Training and Education 2017 (ICTTE 2017)

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Dull learning, not prioritizing to the learning experience and process that is a teacher-centered learning becomes an obstacle in process of learning. The use of Programming Assistance Tool (PAT) can be a solution to overcome the obstacle. By using PAT, a teacher can create fun activities in the learning process by combining learning activities and playing. Robomind and Scratch are two of many PATs in the world. Both have different programming environments concepts, Robomind is a syntaxbased concept, while Scratch is a block-based concept with a drag-and-drop interface. The purpose of this research is to identify the difference of both PATs in improving understanding of decision making and looping. This research used the quasi-experiment method with nonequivalent control group design. The sampling technique used a random sample with total sampling type. The sample used 49 people who recently studied the basic concepts of programming (novice programmer) at the formal education level. Based on the analysis using the t-Test, it is known that there are differences in ability to improve the understanding of decision making and looping on both PATs. Meanwhile, by using the gain test, it was found that Scratch is slightly superior (low gain difference) than Robomind.

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“…The related bibliography is extensive [18] and there are many open discussions about the different approaches, for instance [14,22,21,15,5]. Although other authors defend the use of object oriented languages for introductory courses (see for example [17]), there is no consensus about which approach is better (objects early vs procedures early) [22,21,15,5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Picky: A New Introductory Programming Language

Ballesteros¹,

Soriano-Salvador²,

Muzquiz³

2015

JOCSE

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In the authors' experience the languages available for teaching introductory computer programming courses are lacking. In practice, they violate some of the fundamentals taught in an introductory course. This is often the case, for example, with I/O. Picky is a new open source programming language created specifically for education that enables the students to program according to the principles laid down in class. It solves a number of issues the authors had to face while teaching introductory courses for several years in other languages. The language is small, simple and very strict regarding what is a legal program. It has a terse syntax and it is strongly typed and very restrictive. Both the compiler and the runtime include extra checks to provide safety features. The compiler generates byte-code for compatibility and the programming tools are freely available for Linux, MacOSX, Plan 9 from Bell Labs and Windows. This paper describes the language and discusses the motivation to implement it and its main educational features.

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A survey of literature on the teaching of introductory programming

Cited by 203 publications

References 95 publications

UPC: Large-Scale Memory Efficient Java Primitive Collections

UPC: Large-Scale Memory Efficient Java Primitive Collections

Comparative Study between Robomind and Scratch as Programming Assistance Tool in Improving Understanding of The Basic Programming Concepts

Picky: A New Introductory Programming Language

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