CodeGraffiti: communication by sketching for pair programmers

Abstract

In pair programming, two software developers work on their code together in front of a single workstation, one typing, the other commenting. This frequently involves pointing to code on the screen, annotating it verbally, or sketching on paper or a nearby whiteboard, little of which is captured in the source code for later reference. CodeGraffiti lets pair programmers simultaneously write their code, and annotate it with ephemeral and persistent sketches on screen using touch or pen input. We integrated CodeGraffiti into the Xcode software development environment, to study how these techniques may improve the pair programming workflow.