In-IDE Programming Courses: Learning Software Development in a Real-World Setting

TL;DR

This paper explores the use of an IDE plugin for learning programming, showing it enhances practical skills by integrating real-world development tools into the learning process.

Contribution

It provides the first exploratory study of in-IDE programming courses, highlighting benefits and shortcomings of this innovative learning approach.

Findings

Learners find in-IDE courses engaging and realistic.

Features like debugging and code analysis are valuable for practical learning.

Identified current limitations to improve future IDE-based teaching methods.

Abstract

While learning programming languages is crucial for software engineers, mastering the necessary tools is equally important. To facilitate this, JetBrains recently released the JetBrains Academy plugin, which customizes the IDE for learners, allowing tutors to create courses entirely within IDE. In this work, we provide the first exploratory study of this learning format. We carried out eight one-hour interviews with students and developers who completed at least one course using the plugin, inquiring about their experience with the format, the used IDE features, and the current shortcomings. Our results indicate that learning inside the IDE is overall welcomed by the learners, allowing them to study in a more realistic setting, using features such as debugging and code analysis, which are crucial for real software development. With the collected results and the analysis of the current drawbacks, we aim to contribute to teaching students more practical skills.