Identifying developers’ habits and expectations in copy and paste programming practice

Máster Universitario en Investigación e Innovación en Inteligencia Computacional y Sistemas InteractivosBoth novice and experienced developers rely more and more in external sources of code to include into their programs by copy and paste code snippets. This behavior differs from the traditional software design approach where cohesion was achieved via a conscious design effort. Due to this fact, it is essential to know how copy and paste programming practices are actually carried out, so that IDEs (Integrated Development Environments) and code recommenders can be designed to fit with developer expectations and habit

The importance of good coding practices for data scientists

Many data science students and practitioners are reluctant to adopt good coding practices as long as the code "works". However, code standards are an important part of modern data science practice, and they play an essential role in the development of "data acumen". Good coding practices lead to more reliable code and often save more time than they cost, making them important even for beginners. We believe that principled coding practices are vital for statistics and data science. To install these practices within academic programs, it is important for instructors and programs to begin establishing these practices early, to reinforce them often, and to hold themselves to a higher standard while guiding students. We describe key aspects of coding practices (both good and bad), focusing primarily on the R language, though similar standards are applicable to other software environments. The lessons are organized into a top ten list

Jeeves - A visual programming environment for mobile experience sampling

The Experience Sampling Method (ESM) captures participants’ thoughts and feelings in their everyday environments. Mobile and wearable technologies afford us opportunities to reach people using ESM in varying contexts. However, a lack of programming knowledge often hinders researchers in creating ESM applications. In practice, they rely on specialised tools for app creation. Our initial review of these tools indicates that most are expensive commercial services, and none utilise the full potential of sensors for creating context-aware applications. We present “Jeeves”, a visual language to facilitate ESM application creation. Inspired by successful visual languages in literature, our block-based notation enables researchers to visually construct ESM study specifications. We demonstrate its applicability by replicating existing ESM studies found in medical and psychology literature. Our preliminary study with 20 participants demonstrates that both non-programmers and programmers are able to successfully utilise Jeeves. We discuss future work in extending Jeeves with alternative mobile technologies.PostprintPeer reviewe

The public connection project ten years on

Book synopsis: Los trabajos de este libro reúnen una serie de experiencias concretas en cinco países sobre las formas en que las personas, en su vida diaria, se aproximan y apropian de diversos asuntos “de interés general” de los que no sólo opinan e intercambian, sino de los que eventualmente participan de distintas formas en la vida pública. Esta obra explora nuevas posibilidades de participación política a partir de métodos de investigación innovadores y congruentes con realidades más complejas, fluidas y cambiantes. Es una lectura obligada para todos aquellos interesados en la comunicación y sus intersecciones con la cultura y la participación cívica