Event-based programming has been studied little, yet recent work suggests that language paradigm can predict programming strategies and performance. A contextual inquiry of four expert programmers using the Alice 3D programming environment was performed in order to discover how event-based programming strategies might be supported in programming environments. Various programming, testing, and debugging breakdowns were extracted from observations and possible programming environment tools are suggested as aids to avoid these breakdowns. Future analyses and studies are described. Keywords Programming environment, contextual inquiry, event-based