Fri 20 Feb 2026 11:00 - 11:20 at Meeting Room 105 - Visualization and Simulation Chair(s): Maryam Hedayati

This paper presents textit{ChartCode}, a web-based interactive programming environment designed to support introductory programming courses. textit{ChartCode} integrates flowchart-based visual program construction, multi-language code generation, expression parsing, and execution simulation within a single cohesive platform. Students build programs by constructing flowcharts, which are automatically translated into syntactically correct source code in Python, Java, C, and C++. A built-in expression parser generates syntax trees to help students understand operator precedence and subexpression structure. The system includes a client-side simulation engine that executes code step-by-step, dynamically highlighting control flow and visualizing changes in variable states during execution. textit{ChartCode} is publicly available at texttt{chartcode.org} and features twenty scaffolded lessons covering core programming topics, along with a sandbox mode for open-ended exploration. The system has been deployed in university courses and high school summer camps and supports formative assessments through instructor-defined constraints on available programming constructs. This paper describes the system architecture, implementation details, instructional use cases, and plans for future enhancements to broaden its impact in computing education.

Fri 20 Feb

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10:40 - 12:00
Visualization and Simulation Papers at Meeting Room 105
Chair(s): Maryam Hedayati Princeton University
10:40
20m
Talk
University of Washington Web-Based Simulators for Visualizing Cache and Virtual Memory Concepts
Papers
Justin Hsia University of Washington, Seattle
DOI Media Attached
11:00
20m
Talk
ChartCode: A Flowchart-Centric Educational Tool for Introductory Programming
Papers
Guangming Xing Western Kentucky University, Gongbo Liang Texas A & M University - San Antonio, Tawfiq Salem Purdue University
11:20
20m
Talk
Enhancing Computer Network Education for High School Students with an Educational Simulator Visualizing Packet Retransmission and RoutingGlobalCC
Papers
Yuki Kitamura The University of Osaka, Tomonari Kishimoto Otemon Gakuin University, Hiroyuki Nagataki The University of Osaka, Susumu Kanemune Osaka Electro-Communication University, Shizuka Shirai The University of Osaka
11:40
20m
Talk
HyProf: A Profiler for Programming Students that Offers Hypotheses about Performance Bugs
Papers
Hope Dargan MIT CSAIL, Adam J. Hartz MIT EECS, Robert Miller MIT