TY - JOUR T1 - Measuring computer program quality and comprehension JF - International Journal of Man-Machine Studies Y1 - 1977 A1 - Shneiderman, Ben KW - cognitive psychology KW - commenting KW - memorization KW - modification KW - program design KW - programmer behavior KW - Programming KW - programming experiments KW - programming languages KW - RECALL KW - structured programming AB - Judging the relative quality of computer programs and a programmer's comprehension of a given program has proven to be a difficult task. Ability to debug, modify, hand simulate execution or respond to questions about the program all have their weaknesses as comprehension metrics. This paper offers experimental evidence which supports the use of memorization/recall tasks as a further basis for judging program quality and programmer comprehension. A syntactic/semantic model of programmer behavior is presented to provide a basis for this hypothesis. VL - 9 SN - 0020-7373 UR - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002073737780014X CP - 4 M3 - 10.1016/S0020-7373(77)80014-X ER -