Control flow and data structure documentation: two experiments

TitleControl flow and data structure documentation: two experiments
Publication TypeJournal Articles
Year of Publication1982
AuthorsShneiderman B
JournalCommun. ACM
Volume25
Issue1
Pagination55 - 63
Date Published1982/01//
ISBN Number0001-0782
Keywordsdata structure diagrams, pseudocode
Abstract

Two experiments were carried out to assess the utility of external documentation aids such as macro flowcharts, pseudocode, data structure diagrams, and data structure descriptions. A 223 line Pascal program which manipulates four arrays was used. The program interactively handles commands that allow the user to manage five lists of items. A comprehension test was given to participants along with varying kinds of external documentation. The results indicate that for this program the data structure information was more helpful than the control flow information, independently of whether textual or graphic formats were used.

URLhttp://doi.acm.org/10.1145/358315.358391
DOI10.1145/358315.358391