Comprehension Lab

Contents

• Overview
• Objectives
• Entry Conditions (Pre Lab)
• Exit Conditions (Post Lab)
• Tasks

Overview

Program comprehension is a vital skill for any computer science/software engineering student. Explicit practice and training in comprehension strategies is essential. This lab involves code reading as a collaborative activity in groups.

The activities in this lab require that you work in groups of three. There are three distinct roles in each comprehension group. As the group works through the assigned tasks, the roles for each member must be switched, so each member has the opportunity to experience each of the roles.

Objectives

The objectives of the Code Review activity are to:

• Determine the execution behavior of procedures and functions.
• Identify strategies for managing foreign code.
• Determine the effectiveness of groups for code comprehension activities.
• Write valid pre/post conditions for given procedures and functions.
• Learn to work as a group towards a common goal.

Entry Conditions

The comprehension lab can begin when:

• All team members have read the introduction to program comprehension.
• All team members have read and understand the roles and responsibilities for the group's members.
• All team members have studied the three problems (1, 2, 3) being used for the comprehension lab.

Exit Conditions

The comprehension lab is complete when:

• Each group member has served each of the roles during the process.
• All readers' materials have been submitted.

Tasks

1. Review the group and role assignments for the lab.

2. Complete each problem.

   • Each reader works through their problem.

   • The code review group facilitates the reader's progress through the activity.

   • The recorder maintains the current status of the required output of the activity.

3. Write a brief description of the procedure/function and the pre/post conditions.

4. Validate the resulting pre/post conditions within the group.

5. Each reader completes the requisite information regarding the problem.