4,951 papers · page 119 of 248
Programmers use refactoring to improve the design of existing code without changing external behavior. Current research does not empirically answer the question, "Why and how do programmers refactor functional programs?" In order to answer the question, I conducted a case study o…
Specifications carrying formal parameters that are bound to concrete data at runtime can effectively and elegantly capture multi-object behaviors or protocols. Unfortunately, parametric specifications are not easy to formulate by nonexperts and, consequently, are rarely available…
The 7th edition of the SESS workshop aims at providing a venue for software engineers and security researchers to exchange ideas and techniques. In fact, software is at core of most of the business transactions and its smart integration in an industrial setting may be the competi…
Many software producers utilize beta programs to predict post-release quality and to ensure that their products meet quality expectations of users. Prior work indicates that software producers need to adjust predictions to account for usage environments and usage scenarios differ…
Requirements engineering is a core activity in software engineering. However, formal requirements engineering methodologies and documented requirements are often missing in scientific computing projects. We claim that there is a need for methodologies, which capture requirements …
Software projects typically rely on system analysts to conduct requirements elicitation, an approach potentially costly for large projects with many stakeholders and requirements. This paper describes StakeSource2.0, a web-based tool that uses social networks and collaborative fi…
We propose to combine symbolic execution with volume computation to compute the exact execution frequency of program paths and branches. Given a path, we use symbolic execution to obtain the path condition which is a set of constraints; then we use volume computation to obtain th…
While code is typically presented as a flat file to a developer who must change it, this flat file exists within a context that can drastically influence how a developer approaches changing it. While the developer clearly must be careful changing any code, they probably should be…
Programs written in languages such as Java and C# maintain most of their state on the heap. The size and complexity of these programs pose a challenge in understanding and maintaining them; Heap analysis by summarizing the state of heap graphs assists programmers in these tasks. …
Software designers frequently sketch when they design, particularly during the early phases of exploration of a design problem and its solution. In so doing, they shun formal design tools, the reason being that such tools impose conformity and precision prematurely. Sketching on …
Tables are an important tool used by business analysts engaged in early requirements activities (in fact it is safe to say that tables appeal to many other types of user, in a variety of activities and domains). Business analysts typically use the tables provided by office tools.…
Highly interactive web applications that offer user experience and responsiveness of desktop applications are becoming increasingly popular. They are often composed out of visually distinctive user-interface (UI) elements that encapsulate a certain behavior - the so called UI con…
In this paper we present AutoBlackTest, a tool for the automatic generation of test cases for interactive applications. AutoBlackTest interacts with the application though its GUI, and uses reinforcement learning techniques to understand the interaction modalities and to generate…
Ajax-enabled web applications are a new breed of highly interactive, highly dynamic web applications. Although Ajax allows developers to create rich web applications, Ajax applications can be difficult to comprehend and thus to maintain. FireDetective aims to facilitate the under…
Cloud computing is emerging as more than simply a technology platform but a software engineering paradigm for the future. Hordes of cloud computing technologies, techniques, and integration approaches are widely being adopted, taught at the university level, and expected as key s…
The build system, i.e., the infrastructure that converts source code into deliverables, plays a critical role in the development of a software project. For example, developers rely upon the build system to test and run their source code changes. Without a working build system, de…
The build system of a software project is responsible for transforming source code and other development artifacts into executable programs and deliverables. Similar to source code, build system specifications require maintenance to cope with newly implemented features, changes t…
As a programmer writes new software, he or she may instinctively sense that certain functionality is generally or widely-enough applicable to have been implemented before. Unfortunately, programmers face major challenges when attempting to reuse this functionality: First, develop…
Source code search engines locate and display fragments of code relevant to user queries. These fragments are often isolated and detached from one another. Programmers need to see how source code interacts in order to understand the concepts implemented in that code, however. In …
Different studies show that programmers are more interested in finding definitions of functions and their uses than variables, statements, or arbitrary code fragments [30, 29, 31]. Therefore, programmers require support in finding relevant functions and determining how those func…