Implications For Software Engineering Research Articles

Detecting refactoring type of software commit messages based on ensemble machine learning algorithms

Refactoring is a well-established topic in contemporary software engineering, focusing on enhancing software's structural design without altering its external behavior. Commit messages play a vital role in tracking changes to the codebase. However, determining the exact refactoring required in the code can be challenging due to various refactoring types. Prior studies have attempted to classify refactoring documentation by type, achieving acceptable results in accuracy, precision, recall, F1-Score, and other performance metrics. Nevertheless, there is room for improvement. To address this, we propose a novel approach using four ensemble Machine Learning algorithms to detect refactoring types. Our experimentation utilized a dataset containing 573 commits, with text cleaning and preprocessing applied to address data imbalances. Various techniques, including hyperparameter optimization, feature engineering with TF-IDF and bag-of-words, and binary transformation using one-vs-one and one-vs-rest classifiers, were employed to enhance accuracy. Results indicate that the experiment involving feature engineering using the TF-IDF technique outperformed other methods. Notably, the XGBoost algorithm with the same technique achieved superior performance across all metrics, attaining 100% accuracy. Moreover, our results surpass the current state-of-the-art performance using the same dataset. Our proposed approach bears significant implications for software engineering, particularly in enhancing the internal quality of software.

Machine Code and Metaphysics: A Perspective on Software Engineering

A major, but too-little-considered problem for Software Engineering (SE) is a lack of consensus concerning Computer Science (CS) and how this relates to developing unpredictable computing technology. We consider some implications for SE of computer systems differing scientific basis, exemplified with the International Standard Organisations Open Systems Interconnection (ISO-OSI) layered architectural model. An architectural view allows comparison of computing technology components facilitating a view of computing as a continuum. For example, at one layer of computer architecture, components written in Turing-complete machine language can be seen as deterministic and consistent with a theoretical paradigm of CS. At another layer, components (applications) closer to the human sphere have been seen as non-deterministic and inconsistent with theoretical CS. We compare unpredictable development of computing technology against the cyclic legacy of technological advance and scientific discovery, and suggest that SE indicates an enabling cycle, discernible in previous scientific revolution(s), is stalled or possibly hidden. The CS consequence of divorcing technological advance from scientific consensus is particularly concerning. For example human/computing events could be seen as unpredictable virtual phenomena that somehow extend the ontology of CS. Our approach challenges practical and philosophical boundaries by investigating if applying scientific method (SM) resolves any SE/Science dichotomy.

What Do We Know about Knowledge Management? Practical Implications for Software Engineering

Knowledge management is an overarching idea with a large potential impact on knowledge-intensive work such as software engineering. What do we know about these approaches and how they work in practice? What are the main findings from research on knowledge management in software engineering, and what are these findings' practical implications? This article summarizes a systematic review of research on knowledge management in software engineering, characterizing the research findings and practical implications according to knowledge management school.

Pleasure and pain: perceptual bias and its implications for software engineering

There is a bias in human perception that has practical and ethical implications for product evaluation in general and software evaluation in particular. A user's recall of an experience can significantly differ from his or her feelings during the experience. This article describes its implications for software engineering.

Workshop on software engineering and mobility

Mobility is redefining the hardware and software fabric of distributed systems. Wireless communication allows network hosts to participate in a distributed computation while on the move. Novel middleware technologies allow software components to migrate across hosts for enhanced flexibility or performance. Workshop participants were invited to analyze the software engineering implications of this wave of technological changes, by discussing fundamental models, emerging themes, research opportunities, technological trends, and market forces.http://www.elet.polimi.it/~picco/ICSE01mobility

A schooling on their implications for software engineering [trends

A discussion is presented on trends in software engineering. This can be done by simply extrapolating some of the popular, current trends. And, in fact, we examine a few of these obvious indicators. However, software engineering has had new approaches that are more revolutionary than evolutionary. In particular, we try to discern trends in software engineering based on trends in delivered software systems.

Protecting Research Subjects, Employees and Researchers: Implications for Software Engineering

Human subjects research entails risks for subjects and, to a lesser extent, for researchers. This paper introduces the common types of risks to subjects of empirical software engineering research, and how risk can be a function of the context in which the research is conducted. Risks for researchers are also discussed. Government regulation of the ethics of human subjects research is introduced using the example of the Common Rule that governs much human subjects research taking place in the United States.

Logic Programming and Software engineering—implications for Software design

AbstractLogic programming is a programming paradigm with potential to contribute to software engineering. This paper is concerned with one dimension of that potential, the impact that experience with developing logic programs can have on software design. We present a logic programming perspective on programming patterns, systematic program development, design for provability, and the paradigm of meta-programming.

Measurement as an alternative to bureaucracy for the achievement of software quality

In this paper we discuss the two dominant modes of thought on the problem of software quality: the bureaucratic approach and the technical approach. The aim of the paper is to pursue the issues of how these approaches affect people, in our case software developers, and how we can assess the effectiveness of each approach in actually achieving quality software. An outline of the main aspects of the organizational approach — process modelling and software standards — is given. In order to address the effects of each of these modes of thought on people we take a psychological perspective. The implications for software engineering, in terms of formalism and mechanization, are discussed. The paper argues that overzealous structure, control and automation can negatively affect the creative process of developing software. A perspective on each of the components of the technical approach in terms of their effectiveness in achieving quality objectives is provided. From recent work we find that process modelling and many software standards do not provide an adequate assessment of the benefits derived from their application. The paper argues that measurement goes some way to addressing these problems. Measurement should form the core of the software development process, especially with respect to product quality assessment. The main conclusion is that by focusing on measurable objectives and results we can best achieve quality software products and highlight the processes which are likely to create them in a repeatable and manageable fashion. Additionally, by adopting measurement in practice we should expect to increase the freedom and creativity of software developers.