A Program Visualization Approach in Developing an Interactive Simulation of Java Programs for Novice Programmers

Abstract

It is widely agreed that learning to program is extremely difficult. Beginning programmers tend to have serious difficulties in grasping the abstract concepts and notations that programming involves. To become an expert in programming, it requires a deliberate practice and the ability to comprehend a computer program, so to establish a valid mental presentation of the problem solved by the program. Because of the lack of knowledge and experience, novice programmers have problems with constructing the viable models of problems. In this study, program visualization was designed meant especially to aid novice programmers in Java language. It visualizes the data and control flow of the program. The program visualization design used a modular approach that permits both internal and external extensibility, which consist of two systems, a visualization engine and a Java source interpreter.