Software repository mining with Marmoset: an automated programming project snapshot and testing system

Most computer science educators hold strong opinions about the “right” approach to teaching introductory level programming. Unfortunately, we have comparatively little hard evidence about the effectiveness of these various approaches because we generally lack the infrastructure to obtain sufficiently detailed data about novices’ programming habits. To gain insight into students’ programming habits, we developed Marmoset, a project snapshot and submission system. Like existing project submission systems, Marmoset allows students to submit versions of their projects to a central server, which automatically tests them and records the results. Unlike existing systems, Marmoset also collects finegrained code snapshots as students work on projects: each time a student saves her work, it is automatically committed to a CVS repository. We believe the data collected by Marmoset will be a rich source of insight about learning to program and software evolution in general. To validate t...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: MSR
• Authors: Jaime Spacco, Jaymie Strecker, David Hovemeyer, William Pugh
• Keywords: Introductory Level Programming, Marmoset, MSR 2005, Submission Systems