FSE 2026
Sun 5 - Thu 9 July 2026 Montreal, Canada
Wed 8 Jul 2026 11:30 - 11:50 at MB 5.215 - Comprehension and Maintenance Chair(s): Tushar Sharma

Identifier names are crucial components of code, serving as primary clues for developers to understand program behavior. This paper investigates the linguistic structure of identifier names by extending the concept of grammar patterns, which represent the part-of-speech (PoS) sequences underlying identifier phrases. The specific focus is on closed syntactic categories (e.g., prepositions, conjunctions, determiners), which are rarely studied in software engineering despite their central role in general natural language. To study these categories, the Closed Category Identifier Dataset (CCID), a new manually annotated dataset of 1,275 identifiers drawn from 30 open-source systems, is constructed and presented. The relationship between closed-category grammar patterns and program behavior is then analyzed using grounded-theory-inspired coding, statistical, and pattern analysis. The results reveal recurring structures that developers use to express concepts such as control flow, data transformation, temporal reasoning, and other behavioral roles through naming. This work contributes an empirical foundation for understanding how linguistic resources encode behavior in identifier names and supports new directions for research in naming, program comprehension, and education.

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