Abstract:
We present an empirical study investigating the effect of syntax highlighting on program comprehension and its interaction with programming experience. Quantitative data was captured from 10 human subjects using an eye tracker during a controlled, randomised, within-subjects study. We observe that syntax highlighting significantly improves task completion time, and that this effect becomes weaker with an increase in programming experience.
PPIG 2015 - 26th Annual Workshop
The impact of syntax colouring on program comprehension