Assessing Cognitive Load in Software Development with Wearable Sensors
Fabian Stolp · 2023
The understandability of source code influences software quality, and being able to measure it could greatly benefit software development and maintenance. There is an ongoing debate about the validity of using software metrics for this purpose. In this context, software developers' cognitive load during code comprehension is increasingly often investigated. The concept of cognitive load provides information about the usage of mental resources. Previous research has shown that cognitive load is derivable from physiological measurements. This paper proposes using wearable body sensors that can be easily deployed in software development settings and for empirical software engineering research to provide a cognitive perspective on code understandability and software metrics.