skip to main content
10.1145/3663529.3663819acmconferencesArticle/Chapter ViewAbstractPublication PagesfseConference Proceedingsconference-collections
short-paper
Open access

Methodology and Guidelines for Evaluating Multi-objective Search-Based Software Engineering

Published: 10 July 2024 Publication History

Abstract

Search-Based Software Engineering (SBSE) has been becoming an increasingly important research paradigm for automating and solving different software engineering tasks. When the considered tasks have more than one objective/criterion to be optimised, they are called multi-objective ones. In such a scenario, the outcome is typically a set of incomparable solutions (i.e., being Pareto non- dominated to each other), and then a common question faced by many SBSE practitioners is: how to evaluate the obtained sets by using the right methods and indicators in the SBSE context? In this tutorial, we seek to provide a systematic methodology and guide- line for answering this question. We start off by discussing why we need formal evaluation methods/indicators for multi-objective optimisation problems in general, and the result of a survey on how they have been dominantly used in SBSE. This is then followed by a detailed introduction of representative evaluation methods and quality indicators used in SBSE, including their behaviors and preferences. In the meantime, we demonstrate the patterns and examples of potentially misleading usages/choices of evaluation methods and quality indicators from the SBSE community, high- lighting their consequences. Afterwards, we present a systematic methodology that can guide the selection and use of evaluation methods and quality indicators for a given SBSE problem in general, together with pointers that we hope to spark dialogues about some future directions on this important research topic for SBSE. Lastly, we showcase a real-world multi-objective SBSE case study, in which we demonstrate the consequences of incorrect use of evaluation methods/indicators and exemplify the implementation of the guidance provided.

References

[1]
Pengzhou Chen, Tao Chen, and Miqing Li. 2024. MMO: Meta Multi-Objectivization for Software Configuration Tuning. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering.
[2]
Tao Chen. 2022. Lifelong Dynamic Optimization for Self-Adaptive Systems: Fact or Fiction? In IEEE International Conference on Software Analysis, Evolution and Reengineering, SANER 2022, Honolulu, HI, USA, March 15-18, 2022. IEEE, 78–89. https://doi.org/10.1109/SANER53432.2022.00022
[3]
Tao Chen and Rami Bahsoon. 2017. Self-Adaptive Trade-off Decision Making for Autoscaling Cloud-Based Services. IEEE Trans. Serv. Comput., 10, 4 (2017), 618–632. https://doi.org/10.1109/TSC.2015.2499770
[4]
Tao Chen, Ke Li, Rami Bahsoon, and Xin Yao. 2018. FEMOSAA: Feature Guided and Knee Driven Multi-Objective Optimization for Self-Adaptive Software. ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology, 27, 2 (2018).
[5]
Tao Chen and Miqing Li. 2021. Multi-objectivizing software configuration tuning. In ESEC/FSE ’21: 29th ACM Joint European Software Engineering Conference and Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering, Athens, Greece, August 23-28, 2021, Diomidis Spinellis, Georgios Gousios, Marsha Chechik, and Massimiliano Di Penta (Eds.). ACM, 453–465. https://doi.org/10.1145/3468264.3468555
[6]
Tao Chen and Miqing Li. 2023. Do Performance Aspirations Matter for Guiding Software Configuration Tuning? An Empirical Investigation under Dual Performance Objectives. ACM Trans. Softw. Eng. Methodol., 32, 3 (2023), 68:1–68:41. https://doi.org/10.1145/3571853
[7]
Tao Chen and Miqing Li. 2023. The Weights Can Be Harmful: Pareto Search versus Weighted Search in Multi-objective Search-based Software Engineering. ACM Trans. Softw. Eng. Methodol., 32, 1 (2023), 5:1–5:40. https://doi.org/10.1145/3514233
[8]
Tao Chen and Miqing Li. 2024. Adapting Multi-objectivized Software Configuration Tuning. FSE’24: Proceedings of the ACM on Software Engineering (PACMSE), 1, FSE, https://doi.org/10.1145/3643751
[9]
Tao Chen, Miqing Li, and Xin Yao. 2019. Standing on the shoulders of giants: Seeding search-based multi-objective optimization with prior knowledge for software service composition. Information Software Technology, 114 (2019), 155–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infsof.2019.05.013
[10]
Mark Harman, S. Afshin Mansouri, and Yuanyuan Zhang. 2012. Search-based software engineering: Trends, techniques and applications. ACM Comput. Surv., 45, 1 (2012), 11:1–11:61. https://doi.org/10.1145/2379776.2379787
[11]
Satish Kumar, Rami Bahsoon, Tao Chen, Ke Li, and Rajkumar Buyya. 2018. Multi-Tenant Cloud Service Composition Using Evolutionary Optimization. In 24th IEEE International Conference on Parallel and Distributed Systems, ICPADS 2018, Singapore, December 11-13, 2018. IEEE, 972–979. https://doi.org/10.1109/PADSW.2018.8644640
[12]
Ke Li, Zilin Xiang, Tao Chen, and Kay Chen Tan. 2020. BiLO-CPDP: Bi-Level Programming for Automated Model Discovery in Cross-Project Defect Prediction. In 35th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Automated Software Engineering. 573–584. https://doi.org/10.1145/3324884.3416617
[13]
Miqing Li, Tao Chen, and Xin Yao. 2018. A critical review of: ä practical guide to select quality indicators for assessing pareto-based search algorithms in search-based software engineering": essay on quality indicator selection for SBSE. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Software Engineering: (NIER). 17–20.
[14]
Miqing Li, Tao Chen, and Xin Yao. 2022. How to Evaluate Solutions in Pareto-based Search-Based Software Engineering? A Critical Review and Methodological Guidance. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 48, 5 (2022), 1771–1799.

Index Terms

  1. Methodology and Guidelines for Evaluating Multi-objective Search-Based Software Engineering

    Recommendations

    Comments

    Information & Contributors

    Information

    Published In

    cover image ACM Conferences
    FSE 2024: Companion Proceedings of the 32nd ACM International Conference on the Foundations of Software Engineering
    July 2024
    715 pages
    ISBN:9798400706585
    DOI:10.1145/3663529
    This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License.

    Sponsors

    Publisher

    Association for Computing Machinery

    New York, NY, United States

    Publication History

    Published: 10 July 2024

    Permissions

    Request permissions for this article.

    Check for updates

    Author Tags

    1. multi-objective optimisation
    2. search-based software engineering

    Qualifiers

    • Short-paper

    Conference

    FSE '24
    Sponsor:

    Acceptance Rates

    Overall Acceptance Rate 112 of 543 submissions, 21%

    Contributors

    Other Metrics

    Bibliometrics & Citations

    Bibliometrics

    Article Metrics

    • 0
      Total Citations
    • 146
      Total Downloads
    • Downloads (Last 12 months)146
    • Downloads (Last 6 weeks)37
    Reflects downloads up to 27 Feb 2025

    Other Metrics

    Citations

    View Options

    View options

    PDF

    View or Download as a PDF file.

    PDF

    eReader

    View online with eReader.

    eReader

    Login options

    Figures

    Tables

    Media

    Share

    Share

    Share this Publication link

    Share on social media