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Fri 2 May 2025 11:15 - 11:30 at 211 - Design and Architecture 1 Chair(s): Tushar Sharma

Enhancing the modular structure of existing systems has attracted substantial research interest, focusing on two main methods: (1) software modularization and (2) identifying design issues (e.g., smells) as refactoring opportunities. However, re-modularization solutions often require extensive modifications to the original modules, and the design issues identified are generally too coarse to guide refactoring strategies. Combining the above two methods, this paper introduces a novel concept, PairSmell, which exploits modularization to pinpoint design issues necessitating refactoring. We concentrate on a granular but fundamental aspect of modularity principles-modular relation (MR), i.e., whether a pair of entities are separated or collocated. The main assumption is that, if the actual MR of a pair violates its ‘apt MR’, i.e., an MR agreed on by multiple modularization tools (as raters), it can be deemed likely a flawed architectural decision that necessitates further examination.

To quantify and evaluate PairSmell, we conduct an empirical study on 20 C/C++ and Java projects, using 4 established modularization tools to identify two forms of PairSmell: inapt separated pairs InSep and inapt collocated pairs InCol. Our study on 260,003 instances reveals that their architectural impacts are substantial: (1) on average, 14.60% and 20.44% of software entities are involved in InSep and InCol MRs respectively; (2) InSep pairs are associated with 190% more co-changes than properly separated pairs, while InCol pairs are associated with 35% fewer co-changes than properly collocated pairs, both indicating a successful identification of modular structures detrimental to software quality; and (3) both forms of PairSmell persist across software evolution. This evidence strongly suggests that PairSmell can provide meaningful insights for inspecting modular structure, with the identified issues being both granular and fundamental, making the enhancement of modular design more efficient.

Fri 2 May

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

11:00 - 12:30
Design and Architecture 1Research Track / SE In Practice (SEIP) / Journal-first Papers at 211
Chair(s): Tushar Sharma Dalhousie University
11:00
15m
Talk
A Catalog of Micro Frontends Anti-patternsArtifact-Available
Research Track
Nabson Silva UFAM - Federal University of Amazonas, Eriky Rodrigues UFAM - Federal University of Amazonas Brazil, Tayana Conte Universidade Federal do Amazonas
11:15
15m
Talk
PairSmell: A Novel Perspective Inspecting Software Modular StructureArtifact-FunctionalArtifact-AvailableAward Winner
Research Track
Chenxing Zhong Nanjing University, Daniel Feitosa University of Groningen, Paris Avgeriou Univ. of Gronningen , Huang Huang State Grid Nanjing Power Supply Company, Yue Li Nanjing University, He Zhang Nanjing University
Pre-print
11:30
15m
Talk
Understanding Architectural Complexity, Maintenance Burden, and Developer Sentiment---a Large-Scale Study
Research Track
Yuanfang Cai Drexel University, Lanting He Google, Yony Kochinski Google, Jun Qian Google, Ciera Jaspan Google, Nan Zhang Google, Antonio Bianco Google
11:45
15m
Talk
A Large-Scale Exploratory Study on the Proxy Pattern in EthereumBlockchain
Journal-first Papers
Amir Ebrahimi Queen's University, Bram Adams Queen's University, Gustavo A. Oliva Queen's University, Ahmed E. Hassan Queen’s University
12:00
15m
Talk
Video Game Procedural Content Generation Through Software Transplantation
SE In Practice (SEIP)
Mar Zamorano López University College London, Daniel Blasco SVIT Research Group. Universidad San Jorge, Carlos Cetina , Federica Sarro University College London
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