An Exploratory Investigation of Programmer Performance Under On-Line and Off-Line Conditions

This is the first known study comparing the performance of programmers under controlled conditions for a standard task. An experiment was conducted to compare the performance of programmers working under conditions of on-line and off-line access to the computer. Two groups of six programmers each, comprising a total sample of 12 subjects, coded and debugged two types of programs under on-line and off-line conditions in accordance with a Latin-Square experimental design. The on-line condition was the normal mode of operation for the System Development Corporation Time-Sharing System; the off-line condition was simulated using a two-hour turnaround time.