Visualizer: An Interactive Execution Tool for Java Programs

Effective use of debugging in computer science education is a topic that has received little attention. Existing tools either are too overwhelming for the novice or are too basic and inflexible. Furthermore, the integration of the debugger into complex IDEs have unfamiliar debuggers from students, resulting in a harmful proliferation of console I/O. In this paper, a new stand-alone educational debugging tool is presented, with simple but powerful tools for easily observing and modifying program execution state. This tool is analyzed from an user perspective, and is compared with existing tools.