An experimental evaluation of data type conventions
By J. D. Gannon
Communications of the ACM,
Vol. 20 No. 8, Pages 584-595
10.1145/359763.359800
The language in which programs are written can have a substantial effect on the reliability of the resulting programs. This paper discusses an experiment that compares the programming reliability of subjects using a statically typed language and a “typeless” language. Analysis of the number of errors and the number of runs containing errors shows that, at least in one environment, the use of a statically typed language can increase programming reliability. Detailed analysis of the errors made by the subjects in programming solutions to reasonably small problems shows that the subjects had difficulty manipulating the representation of data.
The full text of this article is premium content
0 Comments
No entries found
Log in to Read the Full Article
Purchase the Article
Log in
Create a Web Account
If you are an ACM member, Communications subscriber, Digital Library subscriber, or use your institution's subscription, please set up a web account to access premium content and site
features. If you are a SIG member or member of the general public, you may set up a web account to comment on free articles and sign up for email alerts.