On Compiler Error Messages: What TheySayand What TheyMean

Abstract

Programmers often encounter cryptic compiler error messages that are difficult to understand and thus difficult to resolve. Unfortunately, most related disciplines, including compiler technology, have not paid much attention to this important aspect that affects programmers significantly, apparently because it is felt that programmers should adapt to compilers. In this article, however, this problem is studied from the perspective of the discipline of human-computer interaction to gain insight into why compiler errors messages make the work of programmers more difficult, and how this situation can be alleviated. Additionally, because poorly designed error messages affect novice programmers more adversely, the problems faced by computer science students while learning to program are analyzed, and the obstacles originated by compilers are identified. Examples of actual compiler error messages are provided and carefully commented. Finally, some possible measures that can be taken are outlined, and some principles for compiler error message design are included.

Measuring the effectiveness of error messages designed for novice programmers

“…The principles of HCI frame general discussions on the design of pedagogic programming languages [27], as well as on the design of error messages specifically [33]. These reflections informed our work.…”

“…Despite this care, we still see novice Scheme programmers struggle to work effectively with these messages. We therefore set out to quantify the problem through finer-grained studies of the error messages as a feedback mechanism, following HCI and social science methods [33]. Specifically, we set out to understand how students respond to individual error messages and to determine whether some messages cause students more problems than others.…”

Effective compiler error message enhancement for novice programming students

“…However CEMs are often cryptic and pose a barrier to success for novice programmers who have been shown in several studies to have trouble interpreting them (Hartmann, MacDougall, Brandt, and Klemmer, 2010;Hristova, Misra, Rutter, and Mercuri, 2003;Kummerfeld and Kay, 2003;Traver, 2010).…”

How Developers Visualize Compiler Messages: A Foundational Approach to Notification Construction

“…Many developers consider these error notifications to be cryptic and confusing [1]. We postulate one of the reasons error notifications are confusing is because compilers do not reveal the reasoning used to determine that the error exists.…”

“…Much of this selfexplanation process may be completely unnecessary since the reasoning process that resulted in the error notification was already known to the compiler. 1 Visualizations in IDEs, such as red wavy underlines and margin indicators, take the perspective that compilers are opaque black boxes and thus by design are limited in their affordances for helping developers in comprehending error notifications. In this paper, we argue that developers stand to significantly benefit when compilers are made more transparent and expose their internal reasoning process to visualization systems.…”