Do visualizations improve program comprehensibility? Experiments with control structure diagrams for Java

Abstract

Recently, the first in a series of planned comprehension experiments was performed to measure the effect of the control structure diagram (CSD) on program comprehensibility. Upper-division computer science students were asked to respond to questions regarding the structure and execution of a source code module written in Java. Statistical analysis of the data collected from this experiment revealed that the CSD was highly significant in enhancing the subjects' performance in this program comprehension task. The results of this initial experiment along with the planned follow-on experiments promise to shed light on fundamental questions regarding the effect of software visualizations on program comprehensibility.