VPCL: A visual language for teaching and learning programming. (A picture is worth a thousand words)

Abstract

There is a need to incorporate visualization in programming. This visualization can be accomplished through various programming steps such as plan composition, language constructs and program execution. Several empirical studies of programmers reveal that major programming errors are related to plan composition and language constructs. These programming steps are considered in the development of a new visual environment known as VPCL. To understand and learn programming, VPCL is divided into three phases: plan observation, plan integration and plan creation. During the plan observation or elementary level, the programming steps of a plan are rehearsed. In the intermediate level, the plans of a given problem are integrated by the user. In the advanced level, all the programming steps are developed using VPCL tools and the language constructs library. Each phase of VPCL is illustrated in detail with several examples. The effectiveness of VPCL as an instructional and developmental tool is demonstrated by the analysis of a sample empirical study.