The evaluation of a pedagogical-program development environment for Novice programmers : a comparative study
- Authors: Vogts, Dieter
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Computer programming -- Study and teaching , Programming languages (Electronic computers) , Web site development
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: vital:10477 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/638 , Computer programming -- Study and teaching , Programming languages (Electronic computers) , Web site development
- Description: It is an acknowledged fact that many novice programmers experience difficulty in the process of learning to program. One of the contributing factors to this difficulty is the Program Development Environment (PDE). Professional-PDEs are those developed specifically for professional programmers, but are often used by educational institutions in the instruction of programming. It has long been accepted that such environments are inappropriate in the instruction of programming due to unnecessary complexity and lack of support for novice programmers in the learning process. Numerous pedagogical-PDEs supporting the mechanics of programming have been developed in response to this. A review of literature, however, indicates that very limited empirical studies comparing pedagogical-PDEs and professional-PDEs have been conducted. The current study investigates whether there are measurable benefits to using a pedagogical-PDE supporting the mechanics of programming in the instruction of programming instead of a professional-PDE. A comparative study of this nature requires a representative pedagogical-PDE and representative professional-PDE be compared with one another. The first part of the current study determines a set of requirements that a pedagogical- PDE should adhere to based on literature. A set of representative features for a pedagogical-PDE is derived by examining the features of existing PDEs in conjunction with the set of requirements. Based on these features, a pedagogical-PDE, known as SimplifIDE, is developed that implements the representative set of features and that meets are the requirements for a pedagogical-PDE. The second part of the current study is the specification and administration of an empirical experiment in which SimplifIDE and Borland© DelphiTM are compared with one another. A holistic approach in determining the differences between the PDEs is taken and three main areas are examined, namely academic performance, perceptions and programming behavior.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Vogts, Dieter
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Computer programming -- Study and teaching , Programming languages (Electronic computers) , Web site development
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: vital:10477 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/638 , Computer programming -- Study and teaching , Programming languages (Electronic computers) , Web site development
- Description: It is an acknowledged fact that many novice programmers experience difficulty in the process of learning to program. One of the contributing factors to this difficulty is the Program Development Environment (PDE). Professional-PDEs are those developed specifically for professional programmers, but are often used by educational institutions in the instruction of programming. It has long been accepted that such environments are inappropriate in the instruction of programming due to unnecessary complexity and lack of support for novice programmers in the learning process. Numerous pedagogical-PDEs supporting the mechanics of programming have been developed in response to this. A review of literature, however, indicates that very limited empirical studies comparing pedagogical-PDEs and professional-PDEs have been conducted. The current study investigates whether there are measurable benefits to using a pedagogical-PDE supporting the mechanics of programming in the instruction of programming instead of a professional-PDE. A comparative study of this nature requires a representative pedagogical-PDE and representative professional-PDE be compared with one another. The first part of the current study determines a set of requirements that a pedagogical- PDE should adhere to based on literature. A set of representative features for a pedagogical-PDE is derived by examining the features of existing PDEs in conjunction with the set of requirements. Based on these features, a pedagogical-PDE, known as SimplifIDE, is developed that implements the representative set of features and that meets are the requirements for a pedagogical-PDE. The second part of the current study is the specification and administration of an empirical experiment in which SimplifIDE and Borland© DelphiTM are compared with one another. A holistic approach in determining the differences between the PDEs is taken and three main areas are examined, namely academic performance, perceptions and programming behavior.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
The design and implementation of a fourth generation programming language
- Authors: Iverson, Carn Martin
- Date: 1989 , 2013-03-04
- Subjects: Programming languages (Electronic computers) , Fourth generation computers
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4584 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004652 , Programming languages (Electronic computers) , Fourth generation computers
- Description: IV is a very high level language designed for use in a real time production control environment. While most fourth generation languages are intended for use by end users, IV is more suitable for skilled professional programmers. One of the major design objectives of IV is a dramatic improvement in programmer efficiency during application program development. Non-procedural constructs provided by the language and the use of a number of interactive development tools provide an environment for achieving this goal. This report presents a language proposal for IV, and addresses related design and implementation issues.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1989
- Authors: Iverson, Carn Martin
- Date: 1989 , 2013-03-04
- Subjects: Programming languages (Electronic computers) , Fourth generation computers
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4584 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004652 , Programming languages (Electronic computers) , Fourth generation computers
- Description: IV is a very high level language designed for use in a real time production control environment. While most fourth generation languages are intended for use by end users, IV is more suitable for skilled professional programmers. One of the major design objectives of IV is a dramatic improvement in programmer efficiency during application program development. Non-procedural constructs provided by the language and the use of a number of interactive development tools provide an environment for achieving this goal. This report presents a language proposal for IV, and addresses related design and implementation issues.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1989
An integration of reduction and logic for programming languages
- Authors: Wright, David A
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Logic programming languages , Programming languages (Electronic computers)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4570 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002035
- Description: A new declarative language is presented which captures the expressibility of both logic programming languages and functional languages. This is achieved by conditional graph rewriting, with full unification as the parameter passing mechanism. The syntax and semantics are described both formally and informally, and examples are offered to support the expressibility claim made above. The language design is of further interest due to its uniformity and the inclusion of a novel mechanism for type inference in the presence of derived type hierarchies
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
- Authors: Wright, David A
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Logic programming languages , Programming languages (Electronic computers)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4570 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002035
- Description: A new declarative language is presented which captures the expressibility of both logic programming languages and functional languages. This is achieved by conditional graph rewriting, with full unification as the parameter passing mechanism. The syntax and semantics are described both formally and informally, and examples are offered to support the expressibility claim made above. The language design is of further interest due to its uniformity and the inclusion of a novel mechanism for type inference in the presence of derived type hierarchies
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
CSP-i : an implementation of CSP
- Authors: Wrench, Karen Lee
- Date: 1987 , 2013-03-08
- Subjects: Synchronization--Computers , Programming languages (Electronic computers)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4579 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003124 , Synchronization--Computers , Programming languages (Electronic computers)
- Description: CSP (Communicating Sequential Processes) is a notation proposed by Hoare, for expressing process communication and synchronization. Although this notation has been widely acclaimed, Hoare himself never implemented it as a computer language. He did however produce the necessary correctness proofs and subsequently the notation has been adopted (in various guises) by the designers of other concurrent languages such as Ada and occam. Only two attempts have been made at a direct and precise implementation of CSP. With closer scrutiny, even these implementations are found to deviate from the specifications expounded by Hoare, and in so doing restrict the original proposal. This thesis comprises two main sections. The first of these includes a brief look at the primitives of concurrent programming, followed by a comparative study of the existing adaptations of CSP and other message passing languages. The latter section is devoted to a description of the author's attempt at an original implementation of the notation. The result of this attempt is the creation of the CSP-i language and a suitable environment for executing CSP-i programs on an IBM PC. The CSP-i implementation is comparable with other concurrent systems presently available. In some aspects, the primitives featured in CSP-i provide the user with a more efficient and concise notation for expressing concurrent algorithms than several other message-based languages, notably occam. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.53 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1987
- Authors: Wrench, Karen Lee
- Date: 1987 , 2013-03-08
- Subjects: Synchronization--Computers , Programming languages (Electronic computers)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4579 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003124 , Synchronization--Computers , Programming languages (Electronic computers)
- Description: CSP (Communicating Sequential Processes) is a notation proposed by Hoare, for expressing process communication and synchronization. Although this notation has been widely acclaimed, Hoare himself never implemented it as a computer language. He did however produce the necessary correctness proofs and subsequently the notation has been adopted (in various guises) by the designers of other concurrent languages such as Ada and occam. Only two attempts have been made at a direct and precise implementation of CSP. With closer scrutiny, even these implementations are found to deviate from the specifications expounded by Hoare, and in so doing restrict the original proposal. This thesis comprises two main sections. The first of these includes a brief look at the primitives of concurrent programming, followed by a comparative study of the existing adaptations of CSP and other message passing languages. The latter section is devoted to a description of the author's attempt at an original implementation of the notation. The result of this attempt is the creation of the CSP-i language and a suitable environment for executing CSP-i programs on an IBM PC. The CSP-i implementation is comparable with other concurrent systems presently available. In some aspects, the primitives featured in CSP-i provide the user with a more efficient and concise notation for expressing concurrent algorithms than several other message-based languages, notably occam. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.53 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1987
Concurrency in modula-2
- Authors: Sewry, David Andrew
- Date: 1985 , 2013-03-13
- Subjects: Modula-2 (Computer program language) , Programming languages (Electronic computers) , Computer multitasking
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4582 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004369 , Modula-2 (Computer program language) , Programming languages (Electronic computers) , Computer multitasking
- Description: A concurrent program is one in which a number of processes are considered to be active simultaneously . It is possib l e to t hink of a process as being a separate sequential program executing independently of other processes, although perhaps communicating with them at desired pOints . The concurrent program, as a whole, can be executed in one of two ways: il ii) in true concurrent manner, wi th each process executing on a dedicated processor in a quasi - concurrent manner, where a processor's processes . time is multiplexed between single the There are two motivations for the study of concurrency in programming languages : i) concurrent programming facilities can be exploited in systems where one has more t han one processor . As technology i mproves, machines having multiple processors will proliferate ii) concurrent p r ogramming facilities may allow programs to be structured as independent , bu t co - operating, processes which can then be implemented on a single processor system . This structure may be more natural to the programmer then the traditional sequential structures. An example is provided by Conway's - 1- Clearly, languages Pascal) problem [Ben82] . by their very nature, traditional sequential- type (Fortran, Basic, Cobol and earlier versions of prove inadequate for the purposes of concurrent programming without considerable extension (which some manufacturers have provided, rendering their compilers non standard-conforming). The general convenience of high level languages provides strong motivation for their development for rea l time programming. Modula - 2 [Wir83] is but one of a number of such r ecently developed languages, designed not only to fulfil a "sequential" role but also to offer facilities for concurrent programming. Developed by Niklaus Wirth in 1979 as a successor to Pascal and Modula, it is intended to serve under the banner of a generalpurpose systems - implementation language. This thesis investigates concurrency i n Modula - 2 and takes the following form: i ) an analYSis of the concurrent facilities offered ii) problems and difficulties associated with these facilities iii) improveme nts and enhancements, including the feasibility of using Modula - 2 to simulate constructs found in other languages, such as the Hoare monitor [Hoa74] and the Ada rendezvous [Uni81]. - 2- Each section concludes with an appraisal of the work conducted in that section . The final section consists of a critical assessment of those Modula - 2 language constructs and facilities provided for the implementation of concurrency and a brief look at concurrency in Modula, Modula-2's predecessor. - Introduction. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.53 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1985
- Authors: Sewry, David Andrew
- Date: 1985 , 2013-03-13
- Subjects: Modula-2 (Computer program language) , Programming languages (Electronic computers) , Computer multitasking
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4582 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004369 , Modula-2 (Computer program language) , Programming languages (Electronic computers) , Computer multitasking
- Description: A concurrent program is one in which a number of processes are considered to be active simultaneously . It is possib l e to t hink of a process as being a separate sequential program executing independently of other processes, although perhaps communicating with them at desired pOints . The concurrent program, as a whole, can be executed in one of two ways: il ii) in true concurrent manner, wi th each process executing on a dedicated processor in a quasi - concurrent manner, where a processor's processes . time is multiplexed between single the There are two motivations for the study of concurrency in programming languages : i) concurrent programming facilities can be exploited in systems where one has more t han one processor . As technology i mproves, machines having multiple processors will proliferate ii) concurrent p r ogramming facilities may allow programs to be structured as independent , bu t co - operating, processes which can then be implemented on a single processor system . This structure may be more natural to the programmer then the traditional sequential structures. An example is provided by Conway's - 1- Clearly, languages Pascal) problem [Ben82] . by their very nature, traditional sequential- type (Fortran, Basic, Cobol and earlier versions of prove inadequate for the purposes of concurrent programming without considerable extension (which some manufacturers have provided, rendering their compilers non standard-conforming). The general convenience of high level languages provides strong motivation for their development for rea l time programming. Modula - 2 [Wir83] is but one of a number of such r ecently developed languages, designed not only to fulfil a "sequential" role but also to offer facilities for concurrent programming. Developed by Niklaus Wirth in 1979 as a successor to Pascal and Modula, it is intended to serve under the banner of a generalpurpose systems - implementation language. This thesis investigates concurrency i n Modula - 2 and takes the following form: i ) an analYSis of the concurrent facilities offered ii) problems and difficulties associated with these facilities iii) improveme nts and enhancements, including the feasibility of using Modula - 2 to simulate constructs found in other languages, such as the Hoare monitor [Hoa74] and the Ada rendezvous [Uni81]. - 2- Each section concludes with an appraisal of the work conducted in that section . The final section consists of a critical assessment of those Modula - 2 language constructs and facilities provided for the implementation of concurrency and a brief look at concurrency in Modula, Modula-2's predecessor. - Introduction. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.53 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1985
Design automation of a machine-independent code generator
- Authors: Clayton, Peter Graham
- Date: 1984 , 2013-01-22
- Subjects: Compilers (Computer programs) , Programming languages (Electronic computers)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4676 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006699 , Compilers (Computer programs) , Programming languages (Electronic computers)
- Description: As both computer languages and architectures continue to proliferate, there is a continuing need for new compilers. Researchers have attempted to ease the work of producing compilers by developing methods to automate compiler writing. While much work has been done (and considerable success achieved) in writing parsers which can handle a variety of source languages (using mainly table-driven analysis methods), less progress has been made in formalizing the code generation end of the compiler. Nevertheless, some of the more recent publications in code generation stress portability or retargetability of the resulting compiler. A number of code generator synthesisers have been developed, some of which produce code that can be compared in quality with that produced by a conventional code generator. However, because of the complexity of generalizing the mapping from source language to target machine, and the need for efficiency of various kinds, code generator synthesisers are large, complicated programs. Consequently, the person who develops a code generator using one of these tools invariably needs to be a code generation specialist himself. Many compilers follow a pattern of having a front end which generates intermediate code, and a back end which converts intermediate code to machine code. The intermediate code is effectively machine independent, or can be designed that way. With these points in mind, we have set out to write a system of programs which -- 1. will allow the generation of such a back end in a reasonably short time, for a general intermediate code, and for a general machine code, and -- 2. can be used by anyone who has a sound knowledge of the target machine's architecture and associated assembler language, but is not necessarily a specialist compiler writer. The system consists of a series of friendly, interactive programs by means of which the user sets up tables defining the architecture and assembly level instructions for the target machine, and the code templates onto which intermediate codes produced by a parser have been mapped. A general notation has been developed to represent machine instructions using the same format as the target assembler. Thus the code generator writer is able to write code sequences to perform the effects of the intermediate codes, using assembly mnemonics familiar to him. The resultant table-driven code generator simply replaces a sequence of intermediate codes by their respective code templates, relocating them in memory and filling in addresses known only at code-generation time. This thesis describes the use and implementation details of this generalized code generation system. As an example, the implementation of a code generator for a CLANG [23] parser on an 8080 processor is described. The discussion also includes guide-lines on how to implement a loader and associated run-time routines for use in executing the object code. The results of a number of bench-marks have shown, as expected, that code produced by a code generator developed in this manner is larger and slower than that from a special purpose optimizing code generator, but is still several times faster than interpreting the intermediate code. The major benefit to be gained from using this system lies in the shorter development time by a less skilled person. , KMBT_223 , Adobe Acrobat 9.53 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1984
- Authors: Clayton, Peter Graham
- Date: 1984 , 2013-01-22
- Subjects: Compilers (Computer programs) , Programming languages (Electronic computers)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4676 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006699 , Compilers (Computer programs) , Programming languages (Electronic computers)
- Description: As both computer languages and architectures continue to proliferate, there is a continuing need for new compilers. Researchers have attempted to ease the work of producing compilers by developing methods to automate compiler writing. While much work has been done (and considerable success achieved) in writing parsers which can handle a variety of source languages (using mainly table-driven analysis methods), less progress has been made in formalizing the code generation end of the compiler. Nevertheless, some of the more recent publications in code generation stress portability or retargetability of the resulting compiler. A number of code generator synthesisers have been developed, some of which produce code that can be compared in quality with that produced by a conventional code generator. However, because of the complexity of generalizing the mapping from source language to target machine, and the need for efficiency of various kinds, code generator synthesisers are large, complicated programs. Consequently, the person who develops a code generator using one of these tools invariably needs to be a code generation specialist himself. Many compilers follow a pattern of having a front end which generates intermediate code, and a back end which converts intermediate code to machine code. The intermediate code is effectively machine independent, or can be designed that way. With these points in mind, we have set out to write a system of programs which -- 1. will allow the generation of such a back end in a reasonably short time, for a general intermediate code, and for a general machine code, and -- 2. can be used by anyone who has a sound knowledge of the target machine's architecture and associated assembler language, but is not necessarily a specialist compiler writer. The system consists of a series of friendly, interactive programs by means of which the user sets up tables defining the architecture and assembly level instructions for the target machine, and the code templates onto which intermediate codes produced by a parser have been mapped. A general notation has been developed to represent machine instructions using the same format as the target assembler. Thus the code generator writer is able to write code sequences to perform the effects of the intermediate codes, using assembly mnemonics familiar to him. The resultant table-driven code generator simply replaces a sequence of intermediate codes by their respective code templates, relocating them in memory and filling in addresses known only at code-generation time. This thesis describes the use and implementation details of this generalized code generation system. As an example, the implementation of a code generator for a CLANG [23] parser on an 8080 processor is described. The discussion also includes guide-lines on how to implement a loader and associated run-time routines for use in executing the object code. The results of a number of bench-marks have shown, as expected, that code produced by a code generator developed in this manner is larger and slower than that from a special purpose optimizing code generator, but is still several times faster than interpreting the intermediate code. The major benefit to be gained from using this system lies in the shorter development time by a less skilled person. , KMBT_223 , Adobe Acrobat 9.53 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1984
Software engineering: inaugural lecture delivered at Rhodes University
- Authors: Williams, M H
- Date: 1979
- Subjects: Computer programming , Programming languages (Electronic computers)
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:680 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020749 , ISBN 0868100102
- Description: Inaugural lecture delivered at Rhodes University , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1979
- Authors: Williams, M H
- Date: 1979
- Subjects: Computer programming , Programming languages (Electronic computers)
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:680 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020749 , ISBN 0868100102
- Description: Inaugural lecture delivered at Rhodes University , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1979
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