Redprint: Integrating API specific "instant example" and "instant documentation" display interface in IDEs
This addresses the problem of inefficient API lookup for programmers, though it is incremental as it builds on existing IDE features.
The paper tackles the difficulty of remembering API syntax and usage by evaluating Redprint, a browser-based PHP IDE that integrates API-specific 'Instant Example' and 'Instant Documentation' interfaces, resulting in significantly reduced search time and development costs.
Software libraries for most of the modern programming languages are numerous, large and complex. Remembering the syntax and usage of APIs is a difficult task for not just novices but also expert programmers. IDEs (Integrated Development Environment) provide capabilities like autocomplete and intellisense to assist programmers; however, programmers still need to visit search engines like Google to find API (Application Program Interface) documentation and samples. This paper evaluates Redprint - a browser based development environment for PHP that integrates API specific "Instant Example" and "Instant Documentation" display interfaces. A comparative laboratory study shows that integrating API specific "Instant Example" and "Instant Documentation" display interfaces into a development environment significantly reduces the cost of searching and thus significantly reduces the time to develop software.