A Support System for Programming Exercises Using Test-first Approach

In programming exercises for novice learners, the learners often satisfied with that their programs ‘work’ at a first glance, and they neglect to test the programs work properly. Making test cases and modifying programs are necessary training for the learners to comprehend behavior of the programs. Therefore, we propose a method for learning programming using test-first approach and a system to support it. Test-first approach is an approach for programming that a programmer makes tests before making programs. Therefore, we decided to apply the approach to the exercises in order to get the learners in habit of testing their programs. The system supports the learners to make test cases and evaluate them. When a learner submits her/his test cases for a question, the system points out missing test cases and gives hints based on a correct answer by a teacher. When the learner submits her/his program, the system executes the tests made by the learner and the teacher and displays the results. This paper describes the method, system, and a preliminary experiment to evaluate the system.