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Examination of the software architecture change characterization scheme using three empirical studies

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Abstract

Software maintenance is one of the most crucial aspects of software development. Software engineering researchers must develop practical solutions to handle the challenges presented in maintaining mature software systems. Research that addresses practical means of mitigating the risks involved when changing software, reducing the complexity of mature software systems, and eliminating the introduction of preventable bugs is paramount to today’s software engineering discipline. The Software Architecture Change Characterization Scheme (SACCS) provides software maintainers with a systematic approach to analyzing and characterizing the impact of a change prior to its implementation. SACCS was designed to help novice developers understand change requests, facilitate discussion among developers, and provide a higher-quality change compared with an ad hoc approach. In addition, this paper describes three controlled experiments designed to assess the viability of using SACCS and its ability to fulfill its goals. The successive studies build upon each other to enable progressive insights into the viability of the scheme. The results indicate that SACCS: 1) provides insight into the difficulty of a change request by assisting novice developers to consider various aspects of the request’s potential to impact the system, 2) helps to facilitate discussion among developers by providing a common tool for change assessment, and 3) is a useful tool for supporting change implementation. The three experiments provide insight into the usefulness of SACCS, motivate additional research questions, and serve as a baseline for moving forward with research and further development of the approach.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Empirical Software Engineering Research group at Mississippi State University and the Fraunhofer Center for Experimental Software Engineering in College Park, MD for feedback on the research and use of the TSAFE program. The authors also thank the study participants. This research was funded by NSF Grant CCF-0438923.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS, USA

    Byron J. Williams

  2. Department of Computer Science, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

    Jeffrey C. Carver

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  1. Byron J. Williams
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  2. Jeffrey C. Carver
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Correspondence to Byron J. Williams.

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Editor: Brian Robinson

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Williams, B.J., Carver, J.C. Examination of the software architecture change characterization scheme using three empirical studies. Empir Software Eng 19, 419–464 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-012-9223-y

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