Does programming language affect the type of conceptual bugs in beginners' programs? A comparison of FPL and Pascal

The effect of the graphical programming language FPL (First Programming Language) on the occurrence of conceptual bugs in programs written by novices was studied. The type and location for each bug, and the frequency for each type were all recorded following procedures developed in an earlier Yale University study of novice Pascal programming. The findings were compared with those of the earlier study, and suggest that FPL may help beginning programmers avoid some common conceptual errors in their programming.