A tool for visualizing the execution of programs and stack traces especially suited for novice programmers
This addresses a specific educational challenge for novice programmers, but it is incremental as it builds upon existing visualization tools.
The authors tackled the problem of novice programmers lacking understanding of program execution by developing a tool that visualizes stack and heap processes, specifically designed for Java and C/C++ programs.
Software engineering education and training have obstacles caused by a lack of basic knowledge about a process of program execution. The article is devoted to the development of special tools that help to visualize the process. We analyze existing tools and propose a new approach to stack and heap visualization. The solution is able to overcome major drawbacks of existing tools and suites well for analysis of programs written in Java and C/C++.