FSE 2026
Sun 5 - Thu 9 July 2026 Montreal, Canada
Wed 8 Jul 2026 11:50 - 12:00 at MB 5.215 - Comprehension and Maintenance Chair(s): Tushar Sharma

A lot of research relies on data analysis scripts to process, clean, and visualize data. However, recent studies show that these scripts are often hard to comprehend and maintain, hindering reproducibility and reuse, accompanied by a lack of tool support for handling such scripts. In this work, we focus on the R programming language, addressing this problem by presenting flowR as an extension for the common data analysis IDEs Positron and VS Code. Alongside a previously presented static backward program slicer, flowR provides an overview of data analysis scripts, interactive graph visualizations, linting, and inline value annotations to support data analysts. FlowR incrementally analyzes R projects by intertwining interprocedural data- and control-flow analyses to build a comprehensive dataflow graph, incorporating R’s dynamic and explorative features. Additionally, flowR offers a plugin system and interfaces, allowing the integration of further analyses, such as new linting rules or custom visualizations. Requiring an average of 576 ms to calculate the full dataflow graph of real-world projects, this enables near real-time feedback. The demonstration video is available at https://youtu.be/hJzr-r-NmMg. For the full source code and extensive documentation, refer to https://github.com/flowr-analysis/flowr. To try the docker image, use docker run --rm -it eagleoutice/flowr.

Wed 8 Jul

Displayed time zone: Eastern Time (US & Canada) change

10:30 - 12:30
Comprehension and MaintenanceIndustry Papers / Research Papers / Tool Demonstrations / Journal-First Paper at MB 5.215
Chair(s): Tushar Sharma Dalhousie University
10:30
20m
Talk
GAER: Graph Auto-Encoders for Unsupervised Software Architecture Recovery
Research Papers
Rakhshanda Jabeen Electrolux Professional, Morgan Ericsson Linnaeus University, Jonas Nordqvist Linnaeus University, Anna Wingkvist Linnaeus University
10:50
20m
Talk
Developer Perspectives on REST API Usability: A Study of REST API Guidelines
Industry Papers
Sven Peldszus Chalmers | University of Gothenburg, Jan Rutenkolk Ruhr University Bochum, Marcel Heide Ruhr University Bochum, Jan Sollmann Ruhr University Bochum, Benjamin Klatt viadee AG, Frank Köhne viadee AG, Thorsten Berger Ruhr University Bochum
DOI Pre-print
11:10
20m
Talk
An Exploratory Eye Tracking Study on How Developers Classify and Debug Python Code in Different Paradigms
Journal-First Paper
Samuel W. Flint Dakota State University, Jigyasa Chauhan University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Niloofar Mansoor University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Bonita Sharif University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA, Robert Dyer University of Nebraska-Lincoln
DOI
11:30
20m
Talk
On the Structure and Semantics of Identifier Names Containing Closed Syntactic Category Words
Journal-First Paper
Christian D. Newman Rochester Institute of Technology, Anthony Peruma University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Eman Abdullah AlOmar Stevens Institute of Technology, USA, Mahie Crabbe University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Syreen Banabilah Kent State University, Reem Alsuhaibani Prince Sultan University, Michael J. Decker Bowling Green State University, Farhad Akhbardeh Briar Cliff University, Marcos Zampieri George mason University, Mohamed Wiem Mkaouer University of Michigan-Flint, Jonathan I. Maletic Kent State University
Link to publication DOI
11:50
10m
Talk
Supporting the Comprehension of Data Analysis Scripts
Tool Demonstrations
Florian Sihler Ulm University, Oliver Gerstl Ulm University, Lars Pfrenger Ulm University, Julian Schubert Ulm University, Matthias Tichy Ulm University
DOI Pre-print
12:00
10m
Talk
ZION: System Exploration With Class Contours
Tool Demonstrations
Mattia Giannaccari REVEAL @ Software Institute – USI, Lugano, Switzerland, Marco Raglianti REVEAL @ Software Institute – USI, Lugano, Switzerland, Michele Lanza Software Institute - USI, Lugano
12:10
20m
Talk
Evaluating Explanatory Artefacts of DSAR-Recovered Software Architectures from Industrial Codebases
Industry Papers
Satrio Adi Rukmono Institut Teknologi Bandung, Lina Ochoa Eindhoven University of Technology, Thijs Bressers ASML, Jacob Krüger Eindhoven University of Technology, Michel Chaudron Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands