Exploring Novice Programming Behavior over Time

Abstract

This work focuses on the effect that programming time has on novice programmers' interaction with two versions of the BlueJ programming environment that differ in compilation mechanism and error message presentation. We utilize programming process data from users of both BlueJ versions, and those who used each one exclusively. Results indicate there is a threshold of approximately twenty hours of programming below and above which compilation and error message frequency changes. This indicates that being exposed to an environment for prolonged time can influence the programming interaction between novices and environments. This phenomenon is not yet understood.