Toward understanding how developers recognize features in source code from descriptions
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Abstract
A basic clue of feature location available to developers is a description of a feature written in a natural language. However, a description of a feature does not clearly specify the boundary of the feature, while developers tend to locate the feature precisely by excluding marginal modules that are likely outside of the boundary. This paper addresses a question: does a clearer description of a feature enable developers to recognize the same sets of modules as relevant to the feature? Based on the conducted experiment with subjects, we conclude that different descriptions lead to a different set of modules.
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Index Terms
- Toward understanding how developers recognize features in source code from descriptions
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Published In
November 2014
6 pages
ISBN:9781450318181
DOI:10.1145/2666358
- General Chairs:
- Tomoyuki Aotani,
- Kung Chen,
- Shigeru Chiba,
- Takashi Ishio,
- Program Chairs:
- Hidehiko Masuhara,
- Hongyu Zhang,
- Jianjun Zhao
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Association for Computing Machinery
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Publication History
Published: 16 November 2014
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SIGSOFT/FSE'14
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SIGSOFT/FSE'14: 22nd ACM SIGSOFT Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering
November 16, 2014
Hong Kong, China
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