CSC 216 F09/debug1
Debugging Vocabulary Exercise
Goal
The goal of this exercise is to reinforce terms and concepts of debugging in Eclipse.
Props
- Two sets of note cards or sheets of paper--each a different color. Cards in the first color (for example, green) contain a description of a term or concept while cards of the other color (for example, white) contain a matching answer. Both colors should be combined into one stack of cards and shuffled. Note: The total amount of cards must be equal to the number of participants.
- A stopwatch or timer.
Examples of pairs
| Term (green) | Description (white) |
|---|---|
| Debugger | A program that can execute another program and analyze its run-time behavior |
| Unit testing | The most basic kind of testing |
| "Step Over" button | Similar to “Step Into” and “Step Return”, this button controls the execution of a program from a breakpoint |
| Test Coverage | A measure of how many parts of a program have been tested |
| TestCase | In JUnit3, the test class should always this class from the junit.framework package |
| JUnit | An open-source regression-testing framework for Java |
| White box testing | A testing method that uses information about the structure of the a program |
| Line breakpoint | Another name for "simple breakpoint" |
| Field breakpoint | Another name for "watchpoint" |
| Breakpoint view | This lists all available breakpoints and can be used to control them in a debugging session, |
Procedure
The cards are distributed to the participants. After each person receives a card, set the timer (preferably to only 2 or 3 minutes). The student's goal is to find the student in the classroom who has the matching term or description to his or her own card before time runs out. For instance, a student's card reads "Test Coverage", he or she needs to find the student with "A measure of how many parts of a program have been tested."
The exercise can be repeated by recollecting the cards, shuffling, and passing them out again.
Competitive Variation
If a more competitive atmosphere is needed, several rounds of the game can be played. In each round, the last pair of students to find each other is disqualified from the next round, until 6 or 8 students are left. At this time finding matching pair becomes too easy. (Remember to leave out a matching pair of cards from the card stack for each pair of eliminated students before passing out the cards again.)
Silent Variation
To make the game more challenging, the game can be played without speaking. This eliminates any shouting across the room and forces students to read each other's cards.
Acknowledgements
Created by Allison Hamann. Examples inspired from Dr. Gehringer's Lecture 4 notes and Big Java by Cay Horstmann.