# Integrating Runtime Values with Source Code to Facilitate Program Comprehension

## TL;DR

This paper presents three novel techniques that incorporate runtime variable values into source code to improve program comprehension, including debugging, documentation, and code annotation tools.

## Contribution

It introduces three new methods—RuntimeSearch, DynamiDoc, and RuntimeSamp—that leverage runtime data to aid understanding of source code, a novel approach in program comprehension.

## Key findings

- RuntimeSearch effectively finds strings in expressions during execution.
- DynamiDoc generates contextual documentation with runtime examples.
- RuntimeSamp provides sample variable values inline in IDEs.

## Abstract

An inherently abstract nature of source code makes programs difficult to understand. In our research, we designed three techniques utilizing concrete values of variables and other expressions during program execution. RuntimeSearch is a debugger extension searching for a given string in all expressions at runtime. DynamiDoc generates documentation sentences containing examples of arguments, return values and state changes. RuntimeSamp augments source code lines in the IDE (integrated development environment) with sample variable values. In this post-doctoral article, we briefly describe these three approaches and related motivational studies, surveys and evaluations. We also reflect on the PhD study, providing advice for current students. Finally, short-term and long-term future work is described.