We all like to use and play with utilities and tools that solve daily problems to us. After we do play with it for sometime, we may pause and ask "hmm, but would that enable some bad guys to kill somebody?" Now we are being ethical about the usage of ...

To effectively manage Technical Debt (TD), we need reliable means to quantify it. We conducted a Systematic Mapping Study (SMS) where we identified 39 quantification approaches for Code, Design, and Architecture TD. We analyzed concepts and metrics ...

Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs) are an efficient means to counter accidental complexity and are therefore a key technology for Model-Driven Engineering (MDE). Despite DSLs' potential, there is a lack of empirical research regarding the practical effects ...

Techniques of Automatic Program Repair (APR) have the potential of thoroughly facilitating the task of producing quality software. After a promising start, however, progress in making APR practical has been hindered by the lack of a common framework to ...

Automatic Static Analysis Tools (ASATs) are widely used by software developers to diffuse and enforce coding practices. Yet, we know little about the documentation of ASATs, despite it being critical to learn about the coding practices in the first ...

Video game development has undergone a significant transformation in the last decade, with modern games becoming increasingly complex and sophisticated. Testing these games for quality assurance is challenging and time-consuming, often relying on manual ...

Machine Learning (ML) - enabled systems capture new frontiers of industrial use. The development of such systems is becoming a priority course for many vendors due to the unique capabilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques. The current trend ...

Multi-lingual software systems build on interconnected components that are implemented in different programming languages. The multi-lingual nature of such systems causes additional complexity, for instance, when developers aim to identify what ...

AntiCopyPaster is an IntelliJ IDEA plugin, implemented to detect and refactor duplicate code interactively as soon as a duplicate is introduced. The plugin only recommends the extraction of a duplicate when it is worth it. In contrast to current Extract ...

[Background] Agile methods are characterized as flexible and readily adaptable. The need to keep up with multiple high-priority projects and the demand for short time-to-market could explain their increasing popularity. However, whether or not the use of ...

Developers are encouraged to adopt good design practices to maintain good software quality during the system's evolution. However, some modifications and changes to the system could cause code smells and pattern grime, which might incur more ...

The results indicate that, in general, the growth of grime is more likely to co‐occur with code smells. Specifically, there is a strong positive association between the growth of pattern grime at the class level and the presence of Shotgun Surgery. ...

It is widely acknowledged that code style is an important aspect of text-based programming. This is because programs written with good style are considered easier to understand and change and so improve the maintainability of the delivered software ...

Open source software (OSS) follows a software development paradigm whereby self‐motivated volunteers scattered all around the globe contribute to the development in the form of code, documentation, feedback, feature recommendations, bug ...

Framework for Project Community Assessment and Ranking follows a phased approach where first phase involves OSS project identification, second phase defines assessment criteria, in third phase data is fetched, stored and metrics are computed; and the ...

Continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) is now a widely adopted development model in practice as it reduces the time from ideas to customers. This adoption has also revived the idea of "shifting left" during software development -- a practice ...

Researchers and practitioners have been studying correlations between software metrics and defects for decades. The typical approach is to postulate a hypothesis that a certain metric correlates with the number of defects. A statistical test then ...

Design patterns represent a means of communicating reusable solutions to common problems, provided they are implemented and maintained correctly. However, many design pattern instances erode as they age, sacrificing qualities they once provided. ...

Design patterns may exhibit symptoms of behavioral decay, wherein improper behavioral extensions of the pattern negatively affect the quality of the software. We validate types of behavioral decay found from real‐world pattern instances and evaluate the ...

Code smells are indicators of poor design implementation and decision-making that can potentially harm the quality of software. Therefore, detecting these smells is crucial to prevent such issues. Some studies aim to comprehend the impact of code smells ...

Testing is one of the most important factors in the software development cycle to obtain a quality product. It is essential to carry out effective tests to ensure that the software works as expected, meets all project requirements, and does not present ...

Continuous Integration (CI) is a widely adopted practice that automates and enhances the frequency of code integration. Previous research has explored the relationship between CI sub-practices (such as frequent commit activity and high test coverage) ...

The software engineering community aims to achieve and maintain high‐efficient software engineering practical activities. One of the techniques used for this purpose is Test‐Driven Development (TDD), which is a cyclic and test‐centered development ...

By using a data‐driven method, regression analysis, our empirical results show that TDD behaviours improve the engagement level, and engaging in development activities likely impact maintainability in a positive way. Specifically, the authors find that ...