{"title":"From source code to test cases: A comprehensive benchmark for resource leak detection in Android apps.","authors":"Oliviero Riganelli, Daniela Micucci, Leonardo Mariani","doi":"10.1002/spe.2672","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Android apps share resources, such as sensors, cameras, and Global Positioning System, that are subject to specific usage policies whose correct implementation is left to programmers. Failing to satisfy these policies may cause resource leaks, that is, apps may acquire but never release resources. This might have different kinds of consequences, such as apps that are unable to use resources or resources that are unnecessarily active wasting battery. Researchers have proposed several techniques to detect and fix resource leaks. However, the unavailability of public benchmarks of faulty apps makes comparison between techniques difficult, if not impossible, and forces researchers to build their own data set to verify the effectiveness of their techniques (thus, making their work burdensome). The aim of our work is to define a public benchmark of Android apps affected by resource leaks. The resulting benchmark, called AppLeak, is publicly available on GitLab and includes faulty apps, versions with bug fixes (when available), test cases to automatically reproduce the leaks, and additional information that may help researchers in their tasks. Overall, the benchmark includes a body of 40 faults that can be exploited to evaluate and compare both static and dynamic analysis techniques for resource leak detection.</p>","PeriodicalId":49504,"journal":{"name":"Software-Practice & Experience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6000,"publicationDate":"2019-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1002/spe.2672","citationCount":"8","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Software-Practice & Experience","FirstCategoryId":"94","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1002/spe.2672","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2018/12/13 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"COMPUTER SCIENCE, SOFTWARE ENGINEERING","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 8
Abstract
Android apps share resources, such as sensors, cameras, and Global Positioning System, that are subject to specific usage policies whose correct implementation is left to programmers. Failing to satisfy these policies may cause resource leaks, that is, apps may acquire but never release resources. This might have different kinds of consequences, such as apps that are unable to use resources or resources that are unnecessarily active wasting battery. Researchers have proposed several techniques to detect and fix resource leaks. However, the unavailability of public benchmarks of faulty apps makes comparison between techniques difficult, if not impossible, and forces researchers to build their own data set to verify the effectiveness of their techniques (thus, making their work burdensome). The aim of our work is to define a public benchmark of Android apps affected by resource leaks. The resulting benchmark, called AppLeak, is publicly available on GitLab and includes faulty apps, versions with bug fixes (when available), test cases to automatically reproduce the leaks, and additional information that may help researchers in their tasks. Overall, the benchmark includes a body of 40 faults that can be exploited to evaluate and compare both static and dynamic analysis techniques for resource leak detection.
期刊介绍:
Software: Practice and Experience is an internationally respected and rigorously refereed vehicle for the dissemination and discussion of practical experience with new and established software for both systems and applications.
Articles published in the journal must be directly relevant to the design and implementation of software at all levels, from a useful programming technique all the way up to a large scale software system. As the journal’s name suggests, the focus is on practice and experience with software itself. The journal cannot and does not attempt to cover all aspects of software engineering.
The key criterion for publication of a paper is that it makes a contribution from which other persons engaged in software design and implementation might benefit. Originality is also important. Exceptions can be made, however, for cases where apparently well-known techniques do not appear in the readily available literature.
Contributions regularly:
Provide detailed accounts of completed software-system projects which can serve as ‘how-to-do-it’ models for future work in the same field;
Present short reports on programming techniques that can be used in a wide variety of areas;
Document new techniques and tools that aid in solving software construction problems;
Explain methods/techniques that cope with the special demands of large-scale software projects. However, software process and management of software projects are topics deemed to be outside the journal’s scope.
The emphasis is always on practical experience; articles with theoretical or mathematical content are included only in cases where an understanding of the theory will lead to better practical systems.
If it is unclear whether a manuscript is appropriate for publication in this journal, the list of referenced publications will usually provide a strong indication. When there are no references to Software: Practice and Experience papers (or to papers in a journal with a similar scope such as JSS), it is quite likely that the manuscript is not suited for this journal. Additionally, one of the journal’s editors can be contacted for advice on the suitability of a particular topic.