Evaluating a Language Workbench: from Working Memory Capacity to Comprehension to Acceptance
Contributo in Atti di convegno
Data di Pubblicazione:
2023
Citazione:
Evaluating a Language Workbench: from Working Memory Capacity to Comprehension to Acceptance / G. Broccia, A. Ferrari, M. Ter Beek, W. Cazzola, L. Favalli, F. Bertolotti - In: 2023 IEEE/ACM 31st International Conference on Program Comprehension (ICPC)[s.l] : IEEE, 2023 May. - ISBN 979-8-3503-3750-1. - pp. 54-58 (( Intervento presentato al 31. convegno International Conference on Program Comprehension tenutosi a Melbourne nel 2023 [10.1109/ICPC58990.2023.00017].
Abstract:
Language workbenches are tools that enable the definition, reuse and composition of programming languages
and their ecosystem. This breed of frameworks aims to make the development of new languages easier and more affordable.
Consequently, the comprehensibility of the language used in a language workbench (i.e., the meta-language) should be an important aspect to consider and evaluate. To the best of our knowledge, although the quantitative aspects of language workbenches are often discussed in the literature, the evaluation of comprehensibility is typically neglected.
Neverlang is a language workbench that enables the definition of languages with a modular approach. This paper presents a preliminary study that intends to assess the comprehensibility of Neverlang programs, evaluated in terms of users’ effectiveness and efficiency in a code comprehension task. The study also investigates the relationship between Neverlang comprehensibility and the users’ working memory capacity. Furthermore, we intend to capture the relationship between Neverlang comprehensibility and users’ acceptance, in terms of perceived ease of use, perceived
usefulness, and intention to use. Our preliminary results on 10 subjects suggest that the users’ working memory capacity may be related to the ability to comprehend Neverlang programs. On the other hand, effectiveness and efficiency do not appear to be associated with an increase in users’ acceptance variables.
Tipologia IRIS:
03 - Contributo in volume
Keywords:
Program Comprehension; Language Workbench; Neverlang
Elenco autori:
G. Broccia, A. Ferrari, M. Ter Beek, W. Cazzola, L. Favalli, F. Bertolotti
Link alla scheda completa:
Titolo del libro:
2023 IEEE/ACM 31st International Conference on Program Comprehension (ICPC)