Analyzing the evolution of testing library usage in open source Java projects

2017 IEEE 24th International Conference on Software Analysis, Evolution and Reengineering (SANER) Pub Date : 2017-02-01 DOI:10.1109/SANER.2017.7884645

Ahmed Zerouali, T. Mens

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引用次数: 27

Abstract

Software development projects frequently rely on testing-related libraries to test the functionality of the software product automatically and efficiently. Many such libraries are available for Java, and developers face a hard time deciding which libraries are most appropriate for their project, or when to migrate to a competing library. We empirically analysed the usage of eight testing-related libraries in 4,532 open source Java projects hosted on GitHub. We studied how frequently specific (pairs of) libraries are used over time. We also identified if and when library usages are replaced by competing ones during a project's lifetime. We found that some libraries are considerably more popular than their competitors, while some libraries become more popular over time. We observed that many projects tend to use multiple libraries together. We also observed permanent and temporary migrations between competing libraries. These findings may pave the way for recommendation tools that allow project developers to choose the most appropriate library for their needs, and to be informed of better alternatives.

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分析开源Java项目中测试库使用的演变

软件开发项目经常依赖于测试相关的库来自动有效地测试软件产品的功能。许多这样的库都可用于Java，开发人员面临着艰难的时刻，决定哪些库最适合他们的项目，或者何时迁移到竞争库。我们实证分析了GitHub上托管的4,532个开源Java项目中8个测试相关库的使用情况。我们研究了特定(对)库在一段时间内的使用频率。我们还确定了在项目的生命周期中库的使用是否以及何时被竞争的库所取代。我们发现一些库比它们的竞争对手更受欢迎，而一些库随着时间的推移变得更受欢迎。我们观察到许多项目倾向于同时使用多个库。我们还观察到竞争库之间的永久和临时迁移。这些发现可能为推荐工具铺平了道路，这些工具允许项目开发人员根据他们的需要选择最合适的库，并告知更好的替代方案。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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2017 IEEE 24th International Conference on Software Analysis, Evolution and Reengineering (SANER)

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