Enviorments

Table of Contents
Introduction

Software being tested

Goal of usability test 3

Methods

Environment

Scoring Rubric 6
Tasks

Results/ Discussion

Scoring of each task

Overall performance 9

Conclusion 13

INTRODUCTION
Microsoft Visual Basic C++ and Code Blocks are two widely known softwares used to
program. This white paper describes the finding from a usability test preformed on both
products.
The overall goal of the usability test, was to determine how difficult it is for someone
with little or no knowledge to use these products for coding. This particular Usability test was
conducted by me.

METHODS
In order to conduct the usability test three things were taken into consideration. The
environment, a scoring rubric, and the tasks to be performed. The initial test was conducted on a
64 bit windows 7 desktop. Which contained 8 gigabytes of ram, with a rating of 5.8 for windows
experience index.

The scoring rubric which can be found in the results page, contains 4 tasks. Those being
the initial setup of a new project, compiling errors, splitting the program into .h and .cpp files as
well as the overall tool layout. These tasks were chosen as I thought that they would test the
learnability, aesthetics, time, and constraints. That both softwares might provide. Each task was
given a rating of 1 to 5 upon successful completion. 1 being strongly disagree and 5 being
strongly agree.
In order to test all this tasks I created a small fortune program on both softwares. The program
simply asked the user for their name and favorite number. Based on the input it then calculates
their fortunate. The program was created from scratch on each software, with the same structure
and variables.

The first task tested was the initial setup of the program. This tasked consisted of loading the
program and creating a new project environment. This was easily done in both Visual Basic and
Code Blocks. However Code Blocks did require you to fill out 2 additional prompt windows
before finalizing your workspace.

Task number two consisted of purposely trouble shooting errors within my code. In this
task Visual Basics lack. It did not highlight or displays errors automatically. In order to view
them you had to click on the errors tab. Which was located right below the code, this took me a
little bit of time to figure out. One thing that was particular interesting about visual basic was that
it would not display my last line of code come again even though the structure was the same as
in Code Blocks. Code Blocks on the other hand automatically displaced the errors and
highlighted the particular line on the side bar.

The third tasks was to split the program built into several different files. This particular
task
was

quite challenging on code blocks. It took me several tries and required looking up the software
documentation. In order to create the necessary files I had to fiddle with the settings to include a
different directory path. However once the files were created all the necessary information to link
them up to the main program were already included.

Preforming this task on visual basics was not too bad. It simply required a change of
syntax compared to what I would normally expect. As well as creating the information to link the
file to the main program manually.

The Last task was aimed at the tools layout. It basically was aimed towards aesthetics and
the ability to locate necessary tools. I focused on tools such commenting, build, searching for a
particular variable in the code to be replaces. The overall layout of visual basic was nice and
clean every things was easy to locate.

On the other hand even though Code Blocks offer a multitude of tools. It lacked
organization. It was really time consuming to track down this tools. There are simple lots of tools
to go through. The initial start is the worst as all the tools are scattered. But if you organize them
at least once like I did, then it offers a lot of possibilities. Such as split view, code aligning,
commenting blocks and much more.

Discussion
After adding up the total score point for each task. Visual Basics accumulated an overall
47 points. While Code Blocks gained 44. Thus making visual basic the overall winner.

Task

Visual Basic

Code Blocks

Usability Description

Usability Description

The initial setup was relatively easy

1. Initial
and fast. The software guided you
Setup of
through the process. Nothing
new project. unexpected.

The initial setup was not confusing

however it was longer than expected.
Required you fill out multiple
prompts.

How satisfied were you with the

time it took to complete the task?

How satisfied were you with the time

it took to complete the task?

Did you have to consult the

documentation for help?

Did you have to consult the

documentation for help?

Did you have to attempt the Option

more then once?

Did you have to attempt the Option

more then once?

2.
Compiling
Errors

Were you able to find the tool/ option

easily?

Were you able to find the tool/ option

easily?

Usability Description

Usability Description

In order to view errors in code had

to click on the tab itself. However
the structure of the data was well
put together.

Liked that it automatically brought up

the errors. However definitely had a
lot of tabs that could confuse some
easily? Also marked the errors in red
within the code.

How satisfied were you with the

time it took to complete the task?

How satisfied were you with the time

it took to complete the task?

Did you have to consult the

documentation for help?

Did you have to consult the

documentation for help?

3. Splitting
the
program
into smaller
files .h
and .cpp

Did you have to attempt the Option

more then once?

Did you have to attempt the Option

more then once?

Were you able to find the tool/ option

easily?

Were you able to find the tool/ option

easily?

Usability Description

Usability Description

Was relatively easy however it took

me two tries. Had to change from
the usual syntax
< functions.h> to functions.h

Too way longer than expected. Not

that easy. Had to inquire google for
the answer. Ultimately had to fiddle
with the program to get it to work.

How satisfied were you with the

time it took to complete the task?

How satisfied were you with the time

it took to complete the task?

Did you have to consult the

documentation for help?

4. Tool
Layout

Did you have to consult the

documentation for help?

Did you have to attempt the Option

more then once?

Did you have to attempt the Option

more then once?

Were you able to find the tool/ option

easily?

Were you able to find the tool/ option

easily?

Usability Description

Usability Description

Tools are nicely formatted making it

easy to view and find what youre
looking for. Saves a lot of time.

Tools formatting is really bad.

However you can position them if
you want too. A lot of tools with brief
description.

How satisfied were you with the

time it took to complete the task?

How satisfied were you with the time

it took to complete the task?

Did you have to consult the

documentation for help?

Overall
Score

Did you have to consult the

documentation for help?

Did you have to attempt the Option

more then once?

Did you have to attempt the Option

more then once?

Were you able to find the tool/ option

easily?

Were you able to find the tool/ option

easily?

47

44

Conclusion
In conclusion both programs offer a multitude of options. However based on this results
Visual Basic seems to be more welcoming to the novice user. It provides enough tools to get you
started. A clean interface with minimal easy to follow prompts. While Code Blocks on the other
hands offers a wide range of tools at your disposal. Appears to be more document oriented and
requires custom organization for maximum efficentcy.
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Screencast Link:

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