Signaling refers to the addition of non-content information to a text in order to emphasize certain ideas and/or clarify the organization. There is increased interest in using typographic signaling, such as boldface type, different font sizes and ruled lines, to format computer program source code listings. However, little evidence exists...
Beacons are defined as sets of key features that typically indicate the presence of a particular data structure or operation. It has been claimed that programmers use them to help comprehend an unfamiliar program. However, despite their importance, beacons are not well-defined and very few have been identified. The present...
Guidelines for using style to improve computer program comprehension
have often been proposed without empirical testing. This thesis reports on the
results of three controlled experiments that investigated ways program style may be
used to aid comprehension of source code listings.
Experiments 1 and 2 were conducted using advanced computer...