Applying design knowledge to programming

Abstract

Arguably programming involves design: computational logic - the program - is constantly reorganized to keep complexity manageable and provide for current and future coding activities to be feasible. However, design practices have gained less attention in the field of programming, even though decades of research on design have led to a large body of knowledge about theories, methods, and best practices. This chapter reports on the first results of our research efforts to transfer and apply design knowledge to programming activities. We improved tool support for software developers in two respects, both of which are based on key concepts in design practices: continuous feedback and ease of exploration.