A Systematic Mapping Study of Code Quality in Education

Hieke Keuning; Johan Jeuring; Bastiaan Heeren

doi:10.1145/3587102.3588777

A Systematic Mapping Study of Code Quality in Education

Hieke Keuning, Johan Jeuring, Bastiaan Heeren

Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › Academic

Abstract

While functionality and correctness of code has traditionally been the main focus of computing educators, quality aspects of code are getting increasingly more attention. High-quality code contributes to the maintainability of software systems, and should therefore be a central aspect of computing education. We have conducted a systematic mapping study to give a broad overview of the research conducted in the field of code quality in an educational context. The study investigates paper characteristics, topics, research methods, and the targeted programming languages. We found 195 publications (1976-2022) on the topic in multiple databases, which we systematically coded to answer the research questions. This paper reports on the results and identifies developments, trends, and new opportunities for research in the field of code quality in computing education.

Original language	English
Pages	5-11
Number of pages	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3587102.3588777
Publication status	Published - 29 Jun 2023
Event	28th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, ITiCSE 2023 - Turku, Finland Duration: 8 Jul 2023 → 12 Jul 2023

Conference

Conference	28th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, ITiCSE 2023
Country/Territory	Finland
City	Turku
Period	8/07/23 → 12/07/23

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 ACM.

Keywords

code quality
code smells
programming education
refactoring
software engineering education
systematic mapping study

Access to Document

10.1145/3587102.3588777

Cite this

@conference{ddee510be0fe48cfa65908a53396f16e,

title = "A Systematic Mapping Study of Code Quality in Education",

abstract = "While functionality and correctness of code has traditionally been the main focus of computing educators, quality aspects of code are getting increasingly more attention. High-quality code contributes to the maintainability of software systems, and should therefore be a central aspect of computing education. We have conducted a systematic mapping study to give a broad overview of the research conducted in the field of code quality in an educational context. The study investigates paper characteristics, topics, research methods, and the targeted programming languages. We found 195 publications (1976-2022) on the topic in multiple databases, which we systematically coded to answer the research questions. This paper reports on the results and identifies developments, trends, and new opportunities for research in the field of code quality in computing education.",

keywords = "code quality, code smells, programming education, refactoring, software engineering education, systematic mapping study",

author = "Hieke Keuning and Johan Jeuring and Bastiaan Heeren",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 ACM.; 28th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, ITiCSE 2023 ; Conference date: 08-07-2023 Through 12-07-2023",

year = "2023",

month = jun,

day = "29",

doi = "10.1145/3587102.3588777",

language = "English",

pages = "5--11",

}

TY - CONF

T1 - A Systematic Mapping Study of Code Quality in Education

AU - Keuning, Hieke

AU - Jeuring, Johan

AU - Heeren, Bastiaan

PY - 2023/6/29

Y1 - 2023/6/29

N2 - While functionality and correctness of code has traditionally been the main focus of computing educators, quality aspects of code are getting increasingly more attention. High-quality code contributes to the maintainability of software systems, and should therefore be a central aspect of computing education. We have conducted a systematic mapping study to give a broad overview of the research conducted in the field of code quality in an educational context. The study investigates paper characteristics, topics, research methods, and the targeted programming languages. We found 195 publications (1976-2022) on the topic in multiple databases, which we systematically coded to answer the research questions. This paper reports on the results and identifies developments, trends, and new opportunities for research in the field of code quality in computing education.

AB - While functionality and correctness of code has traditionally been the main focus of computing educators, quality aspects of code are getting increasingly more attention. High-quality code contributes to the maintainability of software systems, and should therefore be a central aspect of computing education. We have conducted a systematic mapping study to give a broad overview of the research conducted in the field of code quality in an educational context. The study investigates paper characteristics, topics, research methods, and the targeted programming languages. We found 195 publications (1976-2022) on the topic in multiple databases, which we systematically coded to answer the research questions. This paper reports on the results and identifies developments, trends, and new opportunities for research in the field of code quality in computing education.

KW - code quality

KW - code smells

KW - programming education

KW - refactoring

KW - software engineering education

KW - systematic mapping study

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85166220941

U2 - 10.1145/3587102.3588777

DO - 10.1145/3587102.3588777

M3 - Paper

SP - 5

EP - 11

T2 - 28th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, ITiCSE 2023

Y2 - 8 July 2023 through 12 July 2023

ER -

A Systematic Mapping Study of Code Quality in Education

Abstract

Conference

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this