Publication Type
Conference Proceeding Article
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
11-2025
Abstract
Debugging software, i.e., the localization of faults and their repair, is a key activity in software engineering. Therefore, effective and efficient debugging is one of the core skills a software engineer must develop. However, the teaching of debugging techniques is usually very limited or only taught in indirect ways, e.g., during software projects. As a result, most Computer Science (CS) students learn debugging only in an ad-hoc and unstructured way. In this work, we present our approach called Simulated Interactive Debugging that interactively guides students along the debugging process. The guidance aims to empower the students to repair their solutions and have a proper learning experience. We envision that such guided debugging techniques can be integrated into programming courses early in the CS education curriculum. We developed a prototypical implementation using traditional fault localization techniques and large language models. Students can use features like the automated setting of breakpoints or an interactive chatbot. We designed and executed a small-scale, controlled experiment with eight undergraduate CS students. Based on the responses, we conclude that the participants liked the systematic guidance. They rated the automated setting of breakpoints as most effective, followed by the interactive debugging and chatting, and the breakpoint explanations. In future, we will extend our concept and implementation, and perform more intensive user studies.
Keywords
Intelligent Tutoring, Debugging, Software Engineering, Education
Discipline
Educational Methods | Software Engineering
Research Areas
Software and Cyber-Physical Systems
Areas of Excellence
Digital transformation
Publication
2025 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Automated Software Engineering (ASE): Seoul, November 16-20: Proceedings
First Page
3896
Last Page
3901
Identifier
10.1109/ASE63991.2025.00338
Publisher
IEEE
City or Country
New York
Citation
NOLLER, Yannic; CHANDRA, Erick; CHANDRASHEKAR, Srinidhi; CHOO, Kenny; JEGOUREL, Cyrille; KURNIAWAN, Oka; and POSKITT, Christopher M..
Simulated interactive debugging. (2025). 2025 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Automated Software Engineering (ASE): Seoul, November 16-20: Proceedings. 3896-3901.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/11009
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1109/ASE63991.2025.00338