Programmer information needs after memory failure

Despite its vast capacity and associative powers, the human brain does not deal well with interruptions. Particularly in situations where information density is high, such as during a programming task, recovering from an interruption requires extensive time and effort. Although modern program development environments have begun to recognize this problem, none of these tools take into account the brain's structure and limitations. In this paper, we present a conceptual framework for understanding the strengths and weaknesses of human memory, particularly with respect to it ability to deal with work interruptions. The framework explains empirical results obtained from experiments in which programmers were interrupted while working. Based on the framework, we discuss programmer information needs that development tools must satisfy and suggest several memory aids such tools could provide. We also describe our prototype implementation of these memory aids.