TARTARE: Automatic Generation of C-Pointer Statements and Feedback

This paper addresses the difficulties students face when learning
and practicing pointers (i.e., variables storing the memory address
of another variable as its value) in a computer programming class.
To improve their understanding and practice, we have developed
Tartare, an automatic C pointer statement and feedback generator.
By creating statements with automatic feedback, students are given
the opportunity to practice at will, each time on a different instance.
In addition, if the statement must be done remotely and accounts
in the final grade, Tartare discourages academic dishonesty since
each student faces their own statement to solve.
This paper describes the techniques implemented in Tartare,
relying on a pattern template-based approach. The statement vari-
ety of Tartare is evaluated. Finally, current limitations and further
improvements are discussed. We believe our approach for Tartare
can be transposed for automatic exercises generation in various
other fields.