The need for richer refactoring usage data

Abstract

Even though modern Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) support many refactorings, studies suggest that automated refactorings are used infrequently, and few developers use anything beyond Rename and Extract refactorings. Little is known about why automated refactorings are seldom used. We present a list of challenging questions whose answers are crucial for understanding the usability issues of refactoring tools. This paper argues that the existing data sources - Eclipse UDC, Eclipse refactoring histories, version control histories, etc. - are inadequate for answering these questions. Finally, we introduce our tools to collect richer usage data that will enable us to answer some of the open research questions about the usability of refactoring tools. Findings from our data will foster the design of the next generation of refactoring tools.