Before creating the code stories framework, studies needed to be run to determine the effectiveness of the implementation and to determine how best to design the code stories. These studies will inform the elements of the final application and how it will look. More specifically, we needed to understand how developers of all skill levels code and develop a program – noting the types of web resources they use, the variety of problems they encounter, and the goals and subgoals they formulate while working through a coding problem. In order to do this, two studies were run – a live coding session analysis and an observational study.
My focus during my senior design project was on the live coding session analysis. The live coding analysis looks at YouTube livestream videos of professional programmers working through a personal code problem. This study was done to identify how high-level programmers approach problem-solving and programming.