Abstract
Design patterns are object oriented software design practices for solving common design problems and they affect software quality. In this study, we investigate the relationship of design patterns and software defects in a number of open source software projects. Design pattern instances are extracted from the source code repository of these open source software projects. Software defect metrics are extracted from the bug tracking systems of these projects. Using correlation and regression analysis on extracted data, we examine the relationship between design patterns and software defects. Our findings indicate that there is little correlation between the total number of design pattern instances and the number of defects. However, our regression analysis reveals that individual design pattern instances as a group have strong influences on the number of defects. Furthermore, we find that the number of design pattern instances is positively correlated to defect priority. Individual design pattern instances may have positive or negative impacts on defect priority.
Highlights
Design patterns are object oriented software design practices for solving common design problems
We investigate the relationship of design patterns and software defects in a number of open source software projects
There are two groups of metrics, the first related to the total number of design pattern instances in a software project, and the second related to the number of individual design pattern instances in a project
Summary
Design patterns are object oriented software design practices for solving common design problems. Design patterns provide the reuse of proven designs and architectures rather than the reuse of code. The most well-known design pattern literature in software engineering is the book published by Gang of Four (GoF) in 1995 [1]. They cataloged 23 design patterns with their specific solutions to common design problems, benefits and disadvantages.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
