Teresa Busjahn|Roman Bednarik|Andrew Begel|Martha E. Crosby|James H. Paterson|Carsten Schulte|Bonita Sharif|Sascha Tamm
Eye Movements in Code Reading: Relaxing the Linear Order
Freie Universität Berlin|Finland University|University of Eastern Finland|Microsoft (United States)|University of Hawai?i at M?noa|Glasgow Caledonian University|Freie Universität Berlin|Youngstown State University|Freie Universität Berlin
code reading important skill programming inspired linearity people exhibit natural language text reading designed local global gazebased measures characterize linearity lefttoright toptobottom reading source code unlike natural language text source code executable requires specific reading approach validate measures compared eye movements novice expert programmers asked read comprehend short snippets natural language text java programs results show novices read source code less linearly natural language text moreover experts read code less linearly novices findings indicate specific differences reading natural language source code suggest nonlinear reading skills increase expertise discuss implications practitioners educators