IDE Interactions of Novices Transitioning Between Programming Environments

Novices in introductory programming courses typically learn the fundamentals of programming using one of a wide of programming
environments. These vary greatly in terms of the mechanisms they employ to assist programmers, including their approaches to compilation and error message presentation. It is yet to be established which, if any, of these mechanisms are more beneficial for learning. In this study, we utilize Java programming process data to investigate the interaction between novices and two different versions of the BlueJ pedagogical IDE, which differ substantially in terms of compilation mechanism and error message presentation. Specifically, we compare novices that used both BlueJ 3 and BlueJ 4 with those who exclusively used either and the effects of the order in which they transition between BlueJ versions. We find substantial differences between different cohorts in terms of error messages and compilation which provides evidence that programming environments play an important part in influencing the programming
practices of novices. This work supports the hypothesis that the choice of programming environment significantly affects user behavior with respect to specific programming interactions and therefore it is reasonable to expect a difference in how these environments affect learning.