Programmers formulate prompts for code generation based on their understandings of problem domain and LLM ability to execute instructions. A deficiency in either understanding yields inadequate generated code, requiring programmers to revise their understandings based on deficiencies observed in the generated code.

Researchers conducting studies on programming tools often make use of maintenance tasks. The complexity of these tasks can significantly influence how participants behave. At the same time, the complexity of tasks is difficult to pinpoint due to the many sources of complexity for maintenance tasks. As a result, researchers may struggle to deliberately decide in which regard their tasks should be complex and in which regard they should be simple.To help researchers deliberately influence task complexity, we discuss different factors of task complexity. We draw these factors from 23 selected and 39 surveyed studies on programming tools. We arrange the factors according to a task complexity model from ergonomics research that we adapt for maintenance tasks. We illustrate the application of the factors through an example critique of a task design. In the end, task complexity might always be too complex to be fully controlled. Nevertheless, we hope that our discussion helps other researchers to decide in which dimensions their tasks are complex and in which dimensions they want to keep them simple.

Debugging is an essential part of software development. Numerous tools and techniques to improve debugging have been proposed in research or developed in the industry. However, only a few of those see widespread use, and debugging only rarely is a primary teaching subject.

Creating structured editors, which maintain a valid syntax tree at all times rather than allowing to edit program text, is typically a time consuming task. Recent work has investigated the use of existing general-purpose language grammars as a basis for automatically generating structured editors, thus considerably reducing the effort required. However, in these generated editors, input occurs through menu and mouse-based interaction, rather than via keyboard entry that is familiar to most users.

The software engineering practice of automated testing helps programmers find defects earlier during development. With growing software projects and longer-running test suites, frequency and immediacy of feedback decline, thereby making defects harder to repair. Regression test prioritization (RTP) is concerned with running relevant tests earlier to lower the costs of defect localization and to improve feedback.