Developers frequently use the web to locate API examples that help them solve their programming tasks. While sites like Stack Overflow (SO) contain API examples embedded within their textual descriptions, developers cannot access this API knowledge directly. Instead they need to search for and browse results to select relevant SO posts and then read through individual posts to figure out which answers contain information about the APIs that are relevant to their task. This paper introduces an approach, called Scout, that automatically analyzes search results to extract API signature information. These signatures are used to group and rank examples and allow for a unique API-based presentation that reduces the amount of information the developer needs to consider when looking for API information on the web. This succinct representation enables Scout to be integrated fully within an IDE panel so that developers can search and view API examples without losing context on their development task. Scout also uses this integration to automatically augment queries with contextual information that tailors the developer’s queries, and ranks the results according to the developer’s needs. In an experiment with 40 developers, we found that Scout reduces the number of queries developers need to perform by 19% and allows them to solve almost half their tasks directly from the API-based representation, reducing the number of complete SO posts viewed by approximately 64%.
Wed 17 AprDisplayed time zone: Lisbon change
11:00 - 12:30 | Human and Social 1Software Engineering in Society / Research Track / Software Engineering Education and Training at Glicínia Quartin Chair(s): Grischa Liebel Reykjavik University | ||
11:00 15mTalk | Breaking the Flow: A Study of Interruptions During Software Engineering Activities Research Track Pre-print | ||
11:15 15mTalk | Supporting Web-based API Searches in the IDE Using Signatures Research Track Nick Bradley University of British Columbia, Thomas Fritz University of Zurich, Reid Holmes University of British Columbia | ||
11:30 15mTalk | Adopting an Agile Approach for Reflective Learning and Teaching Software Engineering Education and Training | ||
11:45 15mTalk | Experiences with Summer Camp Communication via Discord Software Engineering Education and Training Makayla Moster Clemson University, Ella Kokinda Clemson Univeristy, D. Matthew Boyer Clemson University, Paige Rodeghero Clemson University | ||
12:00 15mTalk | With Great Humor Comes Great Developer Engagement Software Engineering in Society Deepika Tiwari KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Tim Toady Programming Republic of Perl, Martin Monperrus KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Benoit Baudry KTH | ||
12:15 7mTalk | Using Accessibility Awareness Interventions to Improve Computing Education Software Engineering Education and Training Yang Liu Rochester Institute of Technology, Domenic Mangano RIT, Krishna Neupane Rochester Institute of Technology, Samuel Malachowsky Rochester Institute of Technology, Daniel Krutz Rochester Institute of Technology |