The empirical study described in this paper addresses software
reading for construction: how application developers obtain an
understanding of a software artifact for use in new system development.
This study focuses on the processes developers would engage in when
learning and using object-oriented frameworks. We analyzed 15 student
software development projects using both qualitative and quantitative
methods to gain insight into what processes occurred during framework
usage. The contribution of the study is not to test predefined
hypotheses but to generate well-supported hypotheses for further
investigation. The main hypotheses we produce are that example-based
techniques are well suited to use by beginning learners while
hierarchy-based techniques are not because of a larger learning curve.
Other more specific hypotheses are proposed and discussed.
(Also cross-referenced as UMIACS-TR-98-26