Natural language and programming: Designing effective environments for novices

Abstract

Abstract-Given the current drive to teach computational concepts to all from an early age, we consider whether traditional programming languages are truly necessary, or whether natural language might be a suitable medium for program generation and comprehension, given its familiarity and ubiquity. We conducted an empirical study on the use of natural language for computation, and found that, although it provides support for understanding computational concepts, it introduces additional difficulties when used for coding. Following a design study with target users, we distilled our findings into a series of design guidelines for novice programming environments that incorporate natural language. These guidelines drove the design of Flip, a bimodal programming language for young people's game creation activities. An empirical study examined the extent to which these embodied design guidelines support ease of use and an understanding of computation. The guidelines have potential both for analysing the usability of existing novice programming environments, and for designing new ones.

Programmer eXperience: A Systematic Literature Review

“…The aim of the usability analysis of these environments is to identify if they effectively fulfill their purpose (i.e., [26]- [28] and [29]). Some studies have even incorporated natural language to support novice programmers [30]. In addition, some studies compare the usability of different approaches, such as the following: visual or hybrid [31]; textual or visual [32]; tangible or graphic [33]; and blocks or textual [34].…”