What Does Aspect-Oriented Programming Mean for Functional Programmers?

Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP) aims at modularising crosscutting concerns that show up in software. The success of AOP has been almost viral and nearly all areas in Software Engineering and Programming Languages have become "infected" by the AOP bug in one way or another. Interestingly the functional programming community (and, in particular, the pure functional programming community) seems to be resistant to the pandemic. The goal of this paper is to debate the possible causes of the functional programming community's resistance and to raise awareness and interest by showcasing the benefits that could be gained from having a functional AOP language. At the same time, we identify the main challenges and explore the possible design-space

Automated Feedback for 'Fill in the Gap' Programming Exercises

Timely feedback is a vital component in the learning process. It is especially important for beginner students in Information Technology since many have not yet formed an effective internal model of a computer that they can use to construct viable knowledge. Research has shown that learning efficiency is increased if immediate feedback is provided for students. Automatic analysis of student programs has the potential to provide immediate feedback for students and to assist teaching staff in the marking process. This paper describes a “fill in the gap” programming analysis framework which tests students’ solutions and gives feedback on their correctness, detects logic errors and provides hints on how to fix these errors. Currently, the framework is being used with the Environment for Learning to Programming (ELP) system at Queensland University of Technology (QUT); however, the framework can be integrated into any existing online learning environment or programming Integrated Development Environment (IDE