Making students read and review code
Andreas Zeller · 2000
The Praktomat system allows students to read, review, and assess each other's programs in order to improve quality and style. After a successful submission, the student can retrieve and review a program of some fellow student selected by Praktomat. After the review is complete, the student may obtain reviews and re-submit improved versions of his program. The reviewing process is independent of grading; the risk of plagiarism is narrowed by personalized assignments and automatic testing of submitted programs. In a survey, more than two thirds of the students affirmed that reading each other's programs improved their program quality; this is also confirmed by statistical data. 1 Introduction How do we teach people how to write programs? By letting them write programs, of course. But how do we teach people how to write good programs? As instructors, we can easily assess the functionality by testing programs. We can also assess the readability by scrutinizing the code. But wouldn't it b...