Abstract
Code smells were originally designed for object-oriented code, but in recent years, have been applied to end-user languages, including spreadsheets and Yahoo! Pipes. In this paper, we explore code smells in block-based end-user programming languages aimed at education. Specifically, we explore the occurrence of smells in two educational languages not previously targeted by smell detection and refactoring research: LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 and Microsoft's Kodu. The results of this exploration show that object-oriented-inspired smells indeed occur in educational end-user languages and are present in 88% and 93% of the EV3 and Kodu programs, respectively. Most commonly we find that programs are plagued with lazy class, duplication, and dead code smells, with duplication smells being present in nearly two-thirds of programs in both languages.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | 2016 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC) |
Editors | A. Blackwell, B. Plimmer, G. Stapleton |
Place of Publication | Danvers |
Publisher | IEEE |
Pages | 68-72 |
Number of pages | 5 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 978-1-5090-0252-8 |
ISBN (Print) | 978-1-5090-0253-5 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2016 |
Event | 2016 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC 2016 - Cambridge, United Kingdom Duration: 4 Sept 2016 → 8 Sept 2016 |
Conference
Conference | 2016 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC 2016 |
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Country/Territory | United Kingdom |
City | Cambridge |
Period | 4/09/16 → 8/09/16 |
Keywords
- Programming profession
- Games
- Computer languages
- Robot sensing systems
- Education