Software maintenance: measuring programmers' experitse

The purpose of this research is to develop and test a model of the knowledge used in one type of software maintenance, specifically, software debugging. Several researchers (Gould, 1975; Gugerty & Olson, 1986; Weiser, 1982; Vessey, 1985) have investigated components of the knowledge used in debugging; however, no synthesis of this knowledge has appeared in the literature. From the extant literature, this research identifies a model of knowledge relevant to the debugging process and specific items of that knowledge. The model is evaluated by determining the differences between novices and experts in the importance each group attaches to dimensions of that knowledge.