Improving software maintenance efficiency through the use of behavior-based cognitive models in integrated development environments, 2007

Item — Call Number: MU Thesis Bay

Identifier: b2088780

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

The collection consists of theses written by students enrolled in the Monmouth University graduate Software Engineering program. The holdings are bound print documents that were submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the Master of Science degree.

Dates

Creation: 2007

Creator

Bayer, Ross (1982- ) (Author, Person)
Milewski, Allen (Thesis advisor, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use. Access is by appointment only.

Access to the collection is confined to the Monmouth University Library and is subject to patron policies approved by the Monmouth University Library.

Collection holdings may not be borrowed through interlibrary loan.

Research appointments are scheduled by the Monmouth University Library Archives Collections Manager (723-923-4526). A minimum of three days advance notice is required to arrange a research appointment for access to the collection.

Patrons must complete a Researcher Registration Form and provide appropriate identification to gain access to the collection holdings. Copies of these documents will be kept on file at the Monmouth University Library.

Extent

1 Items (print book) : 245 pages ; 8.5 x 11.0 inches (28 cm).

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Currently, in most software environments, the fundamental tool used by software maintainers to perform system maintenance is the integrated development environment (IDE). The problem with current IDEs is that they have poor usability and offer little design information to the user; this increases the time necessary to perform program comprehension activities. In addition, many systems being maintained are accompanied by poor, if any, design documentation. This, in turn, increases the time necessary to perform system maintenance due to great lengths of time and effort required for system comprehension. A possible solution to this problem is to provide behavioral design information to the user in an IDE, thereby allowing them to be able to more easily learn how a system works without the need to consult outside documentation. By providing this information in the IDE, it is hypothesized that the user will be able to perform maintenance tasks more quickly than with conventional IDES. From the hypothesis, an experiment was created to analyze the performance of a typical off-the-shelf IDE using a structural cognitive model versus an IDE using a behavioral IDE, written by the author. This was accomplished by having users perform two maintenance tasks using one of the two IDEs and comparing the amount of time necessary to perform the tasks. After analyzing the results of the experiment, it was determined that the behavioral IDE performed better than the structural IDE for the two maintenance tasks based on time performance and user interviews. This led to several conclusions, including how users comprehended source code faster using the behavioral IDE, picked up on design patterns faster with the behavioral IDE, and how users using the behavioral IDE were encouranged to use a formal comprehension and solution strategy.