Enumerating Counter-Factual Type Error Messages with an Existing Type Checker

The type error message of a standard type checker for a functional language gives only a single location as potential cause of the type error. If that location is not the cause, which often is the case, then the type error message hardly helps in locating the real cause. Here we present a method that uses a standard type checker to enumerate locations that potentially cause the type error, each with an actual and a counter-factual type for the given location. Adding our method to existing compilers requires only limited effort but improves type error debugging substantially

An Analysis of the Current Program Slicing and Algorithmic Debugging Based Techniques

This thesis presents a classification of program slicing based techniques. The classification allows us to identify the differences between existing techniques, but it also allows us to predict new slicing techniques. The study identifies and compares the dimensions that influence current techniques.Silva Galiana, JF. (2008). An Analysis of the Current Program Slicing and Algorithmic Debugging Based Techniques. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/14300Archivo delegad

Report on a User Test and Extension of a Type Debugger for Novice Programmers

A type debugger interactively detects the expressions that cause type errors. It asks users whether they intend the types of identifiers to be those that the compiler inferred. However, it seems that novice programmers often get in trouble when they think about how to fix type errors by reading the messages given by the type debugger. In this paper, we analyze the user tests of a type debugger and report problems of the current type debugger. We then extend the type debugger to address these problems. Specifically, we introduce expression-specific error messages and language levels. Finally, we show type errors that we think are difficult to explain to novice programmers. The subjects of the user tests were 40 novice students belonging to the department of information science at Ochanomizu University.Comment: In Proceedings TFPIE 2014, arXiv:1412.473

The debug slicing of logic programs

This paper extends the scope and optimality of previous algorithmic debugging techniques of Prolog programs using slicing techniques. We provide a dynamic slicing algorithm (called Debug slice) which augments the data flow analysis with control-flow dependences in order to identify the source of a bug included in a program. We developed a tool for debugging Prolog programs which also handles the specific programming techniques (cut, if-then, OR). This approach combines the Debug slice with Shapiro's algorithmic debugging technique