Psychology of programming

The psychology of programming is the field of research that deals with the psychological aspects of writing programs (often computer programs). The field has also been called the empirical studies of programming (ESP).

Psychologically, computer programming is a human activity which involves cognitions such as:

• Reading and writing computer language
• Learning
• Problem solving
• Reasoning

It is desirable to achieve a programming performance such that creating a program meets its specifications, is on schedule, is adaptable for the future and runs efficiently. Being able to satisfy all these goals at a low cost is a difficult and common problem in software engineering and project management. By understanding the psychological aspects of computer programming, we can better understand how to achieve a higher programming performance.

Research methods

Similar to the studies performed in the field of psychology, some methods which one can use to study the psychological aspects of computer programming are:

• Introspection
• Observation
• Experiment
• Qualitative research

See also

• Cognitive psychology
• Human computer interaction
• Learning
• Problem solving

External links

• Psychology of programming web site
• Book (includes downloadable pdf) that applies cognitive psychology to low level programming activities.