Authoring multi-stage code examples with editable code histories

Abstract

Multi-stage code examples present multiple versions of a program where each stage increases the overall complexity of the code. In order to acquire strategies of program construction using a new language or API, programmers consult multistage code examples in books, tutorials and online videos. Authoring multi-stage code examples is currently a tedious process, as it involves keeping several stages of code synchronized in the face of edits and error corrections. We document these difficulties with a formative study examining how programmers author multi-stage code examples. We then present an IDE extension that helps authors create multi-stage code examples by propagating changes (insertions, deletions and modifications) to multiple saved versions of their code. Our system adapts revision control algorithms to the specific task of evolving example code. An informal evaluation finds that taking snapshots of a program as it is being developed and editing these snapshots in hindsight help users in creating multi-stage code examples.

Bioinformatic analysis for potential biological processes and key targets of heart failure-related stroke

“…For example, VT-Revolution [1] offers interactive video tutorial creation based on captured user actions, while Chat.codes [29] promotes collaborative code annotations and explanations. Other efforts support users in drafting code examples by propagating changes to multiple code versions [9] or extracting concise, executable code using a mixed-initiative strategy [12]. Among the many forms of tutorials, the step-by-step structure is particularly accessible for novice authors due to its straightforward nature.…”

Interactive Extraction of Examples from Existing Code

“…Ginosar et al create an IDE extension that helps authors create multi-stage code examples by propagating changes (insertions, deletions and modifications) to multiple saved versions of their code [10]. JTourBus offers a tool for creating tour-structured documentation of large amounts of Java code [21].…”

“…Examples can demonstrate best practices for using particular APIs and confirm programmers' hypotheses about how things work [27]. As a result, HCI and software engineering research has focused on how to support the life cycle of working with examples, e.g., authoring multi-stage code examples [10,14], searching for examples [6,12,31], and integrating examples into one's own code [22,38].…”

Non-Linear Editor for Text-Based Screencast

“…Moreover, rewriting a certain consecutive range of a text editing history can introduce ambiguity in reconstructing later versions of the text. While several studies previously introduced non-linear editing systems for document change history [2] or code change history [3,1,4], most are based on snapshots or line-based diff system, which cannot give users a fine-grained control over the text editing history.…”