On the use of psychology in evaluating software documentation

Recent research evaluating the usefulness of program documentation has borrowed techniques used in psychology to define the variables of interest and to measure those variables. The results of the research suggest that (1) using a branching or sequential program design language (PDL) produces performance that is superior to that found with other formats (such as flowcharts), and (2) using a detailed design written in a PDL leads to superior coding performance over other formats due, in part, to the small amount of translation that is required in mapping from the design to the code. These conclusions are based primarily on time and accuracy data. This paper discusses the research conducted in this area and the conclusions drawn. The influence of the methodology used to conduct these experiments on the evaluation of programmer performance is also discussed.