%0 Journal Article %1 Robillard2004a %A Robillard, M.P. %A Coelho, W. %A Murphy, G.C. %D 2004 %J IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering %K source_code %N 12 %P 889--903 %T How effective developers investigate source code: an exploratory study %V 30 %X Prior to performing a software change task, developers must discover and understand the subset of the system relevant to the task. Since the behavior exhibited by individual developers when investigating a software system is influenced by intuition, experience, and skill, there is often significant variability in developer effectiveness. To understand the factors that contribute to effective program investigation behavior, we conducted a study of five developers performing a change task on a medium-size open source system. We isolated the factors related to effective program investigation behavior by performing a detailed qualitative analysis of the program investigation behavior of successful and unsuccessful developers. We report on these factors as a set of detailed observations, such as evidence of the phenomenon of inattention blindness by developers skimming source code. In general, our results support the intuitive notion that a methodical and structured approach to program investigation is the most effective.

@article{Robillard2004a, abstract = { Prior to performing a software change task, developers must discover and understand the subset of the system relevant to the task. Since the behavior exhibited by individual developers when investigating a software system is influenced by intuition, experience, and skill, there is often significant variability in developer effectiveness. To understand the factors that contribute to effective program investigation behavior, we conducted a study of five developers performing a change task on a medium-size open source system. We isolated the factors related to effective program investigation behavior by performing a detailed qualitative analysis of the program investigation behavior of successful and unsuccessful developers. We report on these factors as a set of detailed observations, such as evidence of the phenomenon of inattention blindness by developers skimming source code. In general, our results support the intuitive notion that a methodical and structured approach to program investigation is the most effective.}, added-at = {2011-06-01T13:09:40.000+0200}, author = {Robillard, M.P. and Coelho, W. and Murphy, G.C.}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2ca4d38bb28bae7c6763629e12622796f/sjbutler}, interhash = {b03ff46fb49925581f2dc04e799e017d}, intrahash = {ca4d38bb28bae7c6763629e12622796f}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering}, keywords = {source_code}, month = {dec.}, number = 12, pages = {889--903}, timestamp = {2011-06-01T13:09:41.000+0200}, title = {How effective developers investigate source code: an exploratory study}, volume = 30, year = 2004 }