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research-article

Model oriented programming: an empirical study of comprehension

Authors:

Omar Badreddin,

Andrew Forward,

Timothy C. LethbridgeAuthors Info & Claims

CASCON '12: Proceedings of the 2012 Conference of the Center for Advanced Studies on Collaborative Research

Pages 73 - 86

Published: 05 November 2012 Publication History

Abstract

Many tools and approaches support the use of modeling abstractions in textual form. However, there have been few studies about whether textual models are as comprehensible as graphical models. We present an experiment investigating the understandability of three different notations: Systems modeled in UML, and the same systems in both Java and Umple. Umple is a model-oriented programming technology that enhances languages like Java and PHP with textual modeling abstractions. It was designed to bridge the gap between textual and graphical modeling. Our experiment asked participants to answer questions reflecting their level of comprehension. The results reveal that for simple comprehension tasks, a visual model and a textual model are comparable. Java's comprehension levels were lowest of all three notations. Our results align with the intuition that raising the abstraction levels of common object-oriented programming languages enhances comprehensibility.

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Cited By

Baddreddin ORahad KOnut IPetriu DChen W(2018)The impact of design and UML modeling on codebase quality and sustainabilityProceedings of the 28th Annual International Conference on Computer Science and Software Engineering10.5555/3291291.3291315(236-244)Online publication date: 29-Oct-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/3291291.3291315
Aldaeej ABadreddin ODillon LVisser WWilliams L(2016)Towards promoting design and UML modeling practices in the open source communityProceedings of the 38th International Conference on Software Engineering Companion10.1145/2889160.2892649(722-724)Online publication date: 14-May-2016
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2889160.2892649
Badreddin OLethbridge TAtlee JBaillargeon RChechik MFrance RGray JPaige RRumpe B(2013)Model oriented programmingProceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Modeling in Software Engineering10.5555/2662737.2662754(69-75)Online publication date: 18-May-2013
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/2662737.2662754

Model oriented programming: an empirical study of comprehension
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing education
      1. Computing education programs

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Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

cover image DL Hosted proceedings

CASCON '12: Proceedings of the 2012 Conference of the Center for Advanced Studies on Collaborative Research

November 2012

291 pages

Conference Chair:
Joanna Ng
CAS Research, IBM Canada Software Lab
,
Editors:
Hans-Arno Jacobsen
University of Toronto
,
Ying (Jenny) Zou
Queen's University
,
Judy Chen
CAS Research, IBM Canada Software Lab
,
Program Chairs:
Hans-Arno Jacobsen
University of Toronto
,
Ying (Jenny) Zou
Queen's University

Publisher

IBM Corp.

United States

Publication History

Published: 05 November 2012

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Overall Acceptance Rate 24 of 90 submissions, 27%

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Cited By

Baddreddin ORahad KOnut IPetriu DChen W(2018)The impact of design and UML modeling on codebase quality and sustainabilityProceedings of the 28th Annual International Conference on Computer Science and Software Engineering10.5555/3291291.3291315(236-244)Online publication date: 29-Oct-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/3291291.3291315
Aldaeej ABadreddin ODillon LVisser WWilliams L(2016)Towards promoting design and UML modeling practices in the open source communityProceedings of the 38th International Conference on Software Engineering Companion10.1145/2889160.2892649(722-724)Online publication date: 14-May-2016
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2889160.2892649
Badreddin OLethbridge TAtlee JBaillargeon RChechik MFrance RGray JPaige RRumpe B(2013)Model oriented programmingProceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Modeling in Software Engineering10.5555/2662737.2662754(69-75)Online publication date: 18-May-2013
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/2662737.2662754

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