IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering最新文献

{"title":"Search-Based DNN Testing and Retraining With GAN-Enhanced Simulations","authors":"Mohammed Oualid Attaoui;Fabrizio Pastore;Lionel C. Briand","doi":"10.1109/TSE.2025.3540549","DOIUrl":"10.1109/TSE.2025.3540549","url":null,"abstract":"In safety-critical systems (e.g., autonomous vehicles and robots), Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) are becoming a key component for computer vision tasks, particularly semantic segmentation. Further, since DNN behavior cannot be assessed through code inspection and analysis, test automation has become an essential activity to gain confidence in the reliability of DNNs. Unfortunately, state-of-the-art automated testing solutions largely rely on simulators, whose fidelity is always imperfect, thus affecting the validity of test results. To address such limitations, we propose to combine meta-heuristic search, used to explore the input space using simulators, with Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), to transform the data generated by simulators into realistic input images. Such images can be used both to assess the DNN accuracy and to retrain the DNN more effectively. We applied our approach to a state-of-the-art DNN performing semantic segmentation, in two different case studies, and demonstrated that it outperforms a state-of-the-art GAN-based testing solution and several other baselines. Specifically, it leads to the largest number of diverse images leading to the worst DNN accuracy. Further, the images generated with our approach, lead to the highest improvement in DNN accuracy when used for retraining. In conclusion, we suggest to always integrate a trained GAN to transform test inputs when performing search-driven, simulator-based testing.","PeriodicalId":13324,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering","volume":"51 4","pages":"1086-1103"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143393222","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Automated Test Case Repair Using Language Models","authors":"Ahmadreza Saboor Yaraghi;Darren Holden;Nafiseh Kahani;Lionel Briand","doi":"10.1109/TSE.2025.3541166","DOIUrl":"10.1109/TSE.2025.3541166","url":null,"abstract":"Ensuring the quality of software systems through testing is essential, yet maintaining test cases poses significant challenges and costs. The need for frequent updates to align with the evolving system under test often entails high complexity and cost for maintaining these test cases. Further, unrepaired broken test cases can degrade test suite quality and disrupt the software development process, wasting developers’ time. To address this challenge, we present <sc>TaRGET</small> (<sc>Test Repair GEneraTor</small>), a novel approach leveraging pre-trained code language models for automated test case repair. <sc>TaRGET</small> treats test repair as a language translation task, employing a two-step process to fine-tune a language model based on essential context data characterizing the test breakage. To evaluate our approach, we introduce <sc>TaRBench</small>, a comprehensive benchmark we developed covering 45,373 broken test repairs across 59 open-source projects. Our results demonstrate <sc>TaRGET</small>'s effectiveness, achieving a 66.1% exact match accuracy. Furthermore, our study examines the effectiveness of <sc>TaRGET</small> across different test repair scenarios. We provide a practical guide to predict situations where the generated test repairs might be less reliable. We also explore whether project-specific data is always necessary for fine-tuning and if our approach can be effective on new projects.","PeriodicalId":13324,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering","volume":"51 4","pages":"1104-1133"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143393223","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Influence of the 1990 IEEE TSE Paper “Automated Software Test Data Generation” on Software Engineering","authors":"Bogdan Korel","doi":"10.1109/tse.2025.3540430","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tse.2025.3540430","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":13324,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143367299","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Design and Assurance of Control Software","authors":"Nancy G. Leveson","doi":"10.1109/TSE.2025.3539975","DOIUrl":"10.1109/TSE.2025.3539975","url":null,"abstract":"When I was EIC of TSE and before, software design approaches were matched with the type of application. Since that time, software has become a major component in the control of potentially dangerous systems and has grown enormously in size. Most of these systems require high assurance of important properties, such as safety and security, and sometimes, require regulatory certification before they can be used. Today, however, such assurance is usually very expensive and limited in its power. This short paper proposes a change in how software is designed that can greatly simplify the development, assurance, and maintenance and evolution of critical control software.","PeriodicalId":13324,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering","volume":"51 3","pages":"666-672"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=10877915","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143367297","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Reflection on Change Classification in the Era of Large Language Models","authors":"Sunghun Kim, Shivkumar Shivaji, Jim Whitehead","doi":"10.1109/tse.2025.3539566","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tse.2025.3539566","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":13324,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143191821","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Retrospective on Whole Test Suite Generation: On the Role of SBST in the Age of LLMs","authors":"Gordon Fraser, Andrea Arcuri","doi":"10.1109/tse.2025.3539458","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tse.2025.3539458","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":13324,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143191823","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Decision Support for Selecting Blockchain-Based Application Design Patterns With Layered Taxonomy and Quality Attributes","authors":"Yanze Wang;Yiling Huang;Jingyue Li;Shanshan Li;He Zhang;Jun Lyu;Chenxing Zhong;Xiaodong Liu;Bohan Liu;Yue Liu;Qinghua Lu;Xin Zhou","doi":"10.1109/TSE.2025.3538612","DOIUrl":"10.1109/TSE.2025.3538612","url":null,"abstract":"<bold><i>Background:</i></b> Along with the rapid development and widespread adoption of blockchain technology, many common practices have been summarized into blockchain-based design patterns for application development. However, the numerous and scattered patterns may cause confusion among practitioners. Therefore, adopting appropriate patterns to meet various requirements has become a major challenge, as it requires deep development experience and blockchain technology knowledge. <bold><i>Objective:</i></b> To address this problem, this paper proposes a decision-support solution to assist with the selection of design patterns during the blockchain-based application development, including a layered taxonomy of design patterns, mappings of quality attributes with the patterns, and a decision model incorporating the taxonomy and mappings. <bold><i>Method:</i></b> We collected 72 distinct and state-of-the-art design patterns via a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) to establish a layered taxonomy, and 18 unified quality attribute metrics were proposed for blockchain-based pattern assessment and mapping establishment. Based on the pattern taxonomy and quality attribute mappings, we developed a decision model that can provide intuitive guidance for pattern selection. <bold><i>Results:</i></b> The proposed solution was evaluated through a case study in a seafood supply chain, in which we examined how well the decision model could help identify design flaws and provide reasonable solutions. Additionally, interviews and a questionnaire-based survey were conducted to measure the completeness, correctness, and usefulness of the proposed decision model. The evaluation results indicate that the proposed decision-support solution provides developers with comprehensive guidance, facilitates targeted decision making, and supports intuitive understanding. <bold><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Our decision-support solution can improve the development efficiency of blockchain-based applications, especially in addressing potential design flaws, achieving targeted quality attributes, and reducing development costs.","PeriodicalId":13324,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering","volume":"51 4","pages":"1039-1066"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143191822","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Qualitative Research Methods in Software Engineering: Past, Present, and Future","authors":"Carolyn Seaman, Rashina Hoda, Robert Feldt","doi":"10.1109/tse.2025.3538751","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tse.2025.3538751","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":13324,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering","volume":"135 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143125047","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Retrospective of ChangeDistiller: Tree Differencing for Fine-Grained Source Code Change Extraction","authors":"Beat Fluri, Michael Würsch, Martin Pinzger, Harald Gall","doi":"10.1109/tse.2025.3538326","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tse.2025.3538326","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":13324,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143125139","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"On “Prioritizing Test Cases for Regression Testing”","authors":"Gregg Rothermel, Roland Untch","doi":"10.1109/tse.2025.3538490","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tse.2025.3538490","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":13324,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering","volume":"55 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143125062","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}