Embedding programming context into source code

TL;DR: This work presents a generic approach to embed various types of context uniformly into the main source code view in close proximity to the relevant source code by using a concept called code portals and presents preliminary results of a qualitative study indicating that the approach is usable and improves program comprehension and productivity in general.

Abstract: Programmers use diverse tools for code understanding to access various types of context information like interface definitions, revision histories, and debugging values. Integrated development environments support specialized visualization mechanisms for such context types. While these mechanisms in principle enable programmers to access required information, the diversity of visualizations as well as the distance between code locations and related information may slow down development. We present a generic approach to embed various types of context uniformly into the main source code view in close proximity to the relevant source code by using a concept called code portals. Furthermore, embedded content can be organized and manipulated directly using operations already familiar to programmers. We illustrate the approach using different types of context, and present preliminary results of a qualitative study indicating that our approach is usable and improves program comprehension and productivity in general. The approach is implemented in a prototypical source code editor.