NOTE: This item is not available outside the Texas A&M University network. Texas A&M affiliated users who are off campus can access the item through NetID and password authentication or by using TAMU VPN. Non-affiliated individuals should request a copy through their local library's interlibrary loan service.
A visual programming environment for data-structured programming
dc.contributor.advisor | Sheppard, Sallie V. | |
dc.creator | Teel, Scott Carlton | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2020-09-02T21:10:36Z | |
dc.date.available | 2020-09-02T21:10:36Z | |
dc.date.issued | 1987 | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/DISSERTATIONS-747608 | |
dc.description | Typescript (photocopy). | en |
dc.description.abstract | This research involved the design and development of the Visual Programming Environment for a Limited Abstract Data Type Set (VPE-LADTS), a graphical software development tool for use in the creation of data-structured programs. The primary motivation for the research was twofold: 1) to investigate the potential application of data-structured programming in the educational and professional arenas, and 2) to provide an environment immediately usable to enhance introductory education in the use of data-structured programming and abstract data types. Data-structured programming (DSP), which uses a limited set of abstract data types in place of arrays and pointers, has recently been advanced in the literature as a programming methodology which results in programs that are shorter, simpler, and easier to understand than array-based programs. Visual Programming addresses methods of increasing a program's comprehensibility through the display and modification of software using visual and graphical means. Using a new category of visual programming language (the icon-based visual programming language), the VPE-LADTS features a combined text and graphic presentation of a data-structured program, and permits the use of dynamic data-structure and control-flow visualization, along with software engineering methods such as top-down design with step-wise refinement, procedural abstraction, and incremental development of algorithms. The results of a formative evaluation of both data-structured programming and the VPE-LADTS are presented. With regard to DSP, the results suggest that data-structured programming is a promising methodology and that further research is indicated to identify both the application areas DSP is suited for and the particular abstract data types needed for those areas. Experiences with the VPE-LADTS indicate that the environment can be used to effectively enhance introductory computer science education through a tight integration of visual programming and data-structured programming techniques, and that the VPE-LADTS provides a usable tool for a group that traditionally has not been provided with many software tools. | en |
dc.format.extent | xii, 165 leaves | en |
dc.format.medium | electronic | en |
dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | |
dc.language.iso | eng | |
dc.rights | This thesis was part of a retrospective digitization project authorized by the Texas A&M University Libraries. Copyright remains vested with the author(s). It is the user's responsibility to secure permission from the copyright holder(s) for re-use of the work beyond the provision of Fair Use. | en |
dc.rights.uri | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ | |
dc.subject | Major computer science | en |
dc.subject.classification | 1987 Dissertation T258 | |
dc.subject.lcsh | Visual programming (Computer science) | en |
dc.subject.lcsh | Electronic data processing | en |
dc.subject.lcsh | Computer-assisted instruction | en |
dc.subject.lcsh | Structured programming | en |
dc.title | A visual programming environment for data-structured programming | en |
dc.type | Thesis | en |
thesis.degree.discipline | Computer Science | en |
thesis.degree.grantor | Texas A&M University | en |
thesis.degree.name | Doctor of Philosophy | en |
thesis.degree.name | Ph. D. in Computer Science | en |
thesis.degree.level | Doctorial | en |
dc.contributor.committeeMember | Carlisle, W. Homer | |
dc.contributor.committeeMember | Childs, S. Bart | |
dc.contributor.committeeMember | Sena, James A. | |
dc.type.genre | dissertations | en |
dc.type.material | text | en |
dc.format.digitalOrigin | reformatted digital | en |
dc.publisher.digital | Texas A&M University. Libraries | |
dc.identifier.oclc | 18660603 |
Files in this item
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
-
Digitized Theses and Dissertations (1922–2004)
Texas A&M University Theses and Dissertations (1922–2004)
Request Open Access
This item and its contents are restricted. If this is your thesis or dissertation, you can make it open-access. This will allow all visitors to view the contents of the thesis.