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Usability criteria for automated debugging systems

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Automated and Algorithmic Debugging (AADEBUG 1993)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 749))

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Abstract

Much of the current discussion around automated debugging systems is centered around various technical issues. In contrast, this paper focuses on user oriented usability criteria for automated debugging systems, and reviews several systems according to these criteria. We introduce four usability criteria: generality, cognitive plausibility, degree of automation and appreciation of the user's expertise. A debugging system which is general is able to understand a program without restrictive assumptions about the class of algorithms, the implementation, etc. A cognitively plausible debugging system supports debugging according to the user's mental model, e.g. by supporting several levels of abstraction and directions of bug localization. A high degree of automation means that fewer interactions with the user are required to find a bug. A debugging system that appreciates the user's expertise is suitable for both expert and novice programmers, and has the ability to take advantage of the additional knowledge of an expert programmer to speed up and improve the debugging process. Existing automated debugging systems fulfill these user-oriented requirements to a varying degree. However, many improvements are still needed to make automated debugging systems attractive to a broad range of users.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer and Information Science, Linköping University, S-581 83, Linköping, Sweden

    Nahid Shahmehri, Mariam Kamkar & Peter Fritzson

Authors
  1. Nahid Shahmehri
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  2. Mariam Kamkar
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  3. Peter Fritzson
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Peter A. Fritzson

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© 1993 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Shahmehri, N., Kamkar, M., Fritzson, P. (1993). Usability criteria for automated debugging systems. In: Fritzson, P.A. (eds) Automated and Algorithmic Debugging. AADEBUG 1993. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 749. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0019398

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0019398

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-57417-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-48141-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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