Program comprehension: Difference between revisions

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'''Program comprehension''' is a ___domain of computing science dealing with the processes (cognitive or others) used by [[software engineer]]s to understand programs (during their evaluation, before their modification).

'''Program comprehension''' (also '''program understanding''' or '''[source] code comprehension''') is a ___domain of computer science concerned with the ways [[software engineers]] maintain existing source code. The cognitive and other processes involved are identified and studied.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Letovsky |first=Stanley |date=1987-12-01 |title=Cognitive processes in program comprehension |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0164-1212%2887%2990032-X |journal=Journal of Systems and Software |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=325–339 |doi=10.1016/0164-1212(87)90032-X |issn=0164-1212|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The results are used to develop tools and training.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Storey |first=Margaret-Anne |chapter=Theories, methods and tools in program comprehension: Past, present and future |date=2005-05-15 |title=13th International Workshop on Program Comprehension (IWPC'05) |chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1109/WPC.2005.38 |series=IWPC '05 |___location=USA |publisher=IEEE Computer Society |pages=181–191 |doi=10.1109/WPC.2005.38 |isbn=978-0-7695-2254-8}}</ref>

Program comprehension is also known as program understanding.

Software maintenance tasks have five categories: adaptive maintenance, [[corrective maintenance]], perfective maintenance, [[code reuse]], and code leverage.

== Theories of program comprehension ==

PrecursorTitles workof works on program comprehension includes:include

* ''Using a behavioral theory of program comprehension in software engineering''

* ''The concept assignment problem in program understanding'', and

* ''Program Comprehension During Software Maintenance and Evolution''.

Computer scientists pioneering program comprehension include Ruven Brooks, Ted J. Biggerstaff, and Anneliese von Mayrhauser.

<!-- These links supply no knowledge except that one may "buy this article":

* Ruven Brooks' theory [http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=803210].

* Ted J. Biggerstaff's concept assignment problem [http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=257679].

* Anneliese von Mayrhauser's theory [http://ieeexplorewww.ieeecomputer.org/searchportal/wrapperweb/csdl/doi/10.1109/2.jsp?arnumber=402076].

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== See also ==

*[[Program analysis]]

*[[Program slicing]]

== References ==

== Conferences on program comprehension ==

<references />

Although major conferences in computing science welcome work on program comprehension, the International Conference on Program Comprehension [http://www.ieee-iwpc.org/] (formely known as International ''Workshop'' on Program Comprehension until 2005 inclusive) is dedicated to research on program comprehension.

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[[Category:Computer programming]]