Improving code reading and comprehension on large displays

Abstract

Due to advances in display technologies and continuous decrease in large display prices, more users are choosing larger displays or multiple monitors for personal and professional use although standard size desktop monitors are still widely used. As programmers use a larger display surfaces to read and understand their code, current code editors are designed for standard monitor sizes and they do not exploit the extra space that comes with a larger display. In this paper, we discuss the use of a large display for code reading and test whether code reading can be improved by utilizing larger screen space. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.