Towards Supporting Knowledge Transfer of Programming Languages

Abstract

Today, there are hundreds of programming languages that are widely used. Programmers at all levels are expected to become proficient in multiple languages. Experienced programmers who have knowledge of at least one language are able to learn a second language much quicker than novices. However, the transfer process can still be difficult when there exists numerous differences from their previous language. Documentation, online courses and tutorials tend to present information geared towards novices. This type of presentation might suffice for beginners, but it doesn't support learning for experienced programmers [1] who would benefit from leveraging their knowledge of previous programming languages.