PROFES 2025
Mon 1 - Wed 3 December 2025 Salerno , Italy

Software maintenance and refactoring can help programmers keep a clean code base. Recently, there has been a growing interest in applying Large Language Models (LLMs) to assist with this task. Their large costs to train and deploy have sparked interest in using Small Language Models (SLMs) instead, especially in resource-constrained environments. To help us understand the capabilities of SLMs (specifically LLMs under 8 billion parameters) in software maintenance and refactoring, we perform a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) with a focus on code refactoring and code smell detection. We searched multiple databases and defined an inclusion/exclusion criterion to help us answer six Research Questions (RQs), which led to 40 papers. We have found that the software refactoring field is not well explored, which includes SLMs. We also found that 19 out of 40 collected literature do not list parameter counts, and SLMs are usually fine-tuned with datasets. Further research revealed that LLMs have longer times to train, higher costs to run and train, and introduce challenges with data privacy, but baseline SLMs usually perform worse than LLMs and achieve lower metrics. However, we can see that this field is evolving - SLMs have a promising future.

Tue 2 Dec

Displayed time zone: Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna change

09:30 - 11:00
Technical Debt and RefactoringShort Papers and Posters / Research Papers at Sala degli Affreschi (Fresco Room)
Chair(s): Sousuke Amasaki Nanzan University
09:30
15m
Talk
Enhancing Python Code Maintainability through Large Language Model-Based Approaches
Research Papers
Karthik Shivashankar University of Oslo, Antonio Martini University of Oslo, Norway
09:45
15m
Talk
Enhancing Software Maintainability through LLM-Assisted Code Refactoring
Research Papers
Tommaso Fulcini Politecnico di Torino, Riccardo Coppola Politecnico di Torino, Flavio Giobergia Politecnico di Torino, Amirali Changizi Politecnico di Torino, Meelad Dashti Politecnico di Torino, Kimia Dorrani Politecnico di Torino, Domenico Amalfitano University of Naples Federico II, Damiano Distante UnitelmaSapienza University of Rome, Filippo Ricca DIBRIS, Università di Genova
10:00
15m
Talk
Temporal Evolution of Architectural Complexity and Technical Debt in Microservices: An Exploratory Case Study
Research Papers
Bhuwan Paudel Blekinge Institute of Technology, Javier Gonzalez-Huerta Blekinge Institute of Technology, Ehsan Zabardast Nordea / Blekinge Institute of Technology
10:15
15m
Talk
Detecting Technical Debt in Source Code Changes using Large Language Models
Research Papers
Merve Astekin SINTEF, Arda Goknil SINTEF Digital, Sagar Sen , Simeon Tverdal SINTEF Digital, Phu Nguyen SINTEF
10:30
7m
Talk
LLM-based Multi-Agent System for Intelligent Refactoring of Haskell Code
Short Papers and Posters
Shahbaz Siddeeq Tampere University, Muhammad Waseem Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences, Tampere University, 33014 Tampere, Finland, Zeeshan Rasheed Tampere University, Md Mahade Hasan Tampere University, Jussi Rasku Tampere University, Mika Saari Tampere University, Henri Terho Eficode Oy, Kalle Mäkelä Eficode Oy, Kai-Kristian Kemell Tampere University, Pekka Abrahamsson Tampere University
10:37
7m
Talk
Architecture Degradation at Scale: Challenges and Insights from Practice
Short Papers and Posters
Ehsan Zabardast Nordea / Blekinge Institute of Technology, Bhuwan Paudel Blekinge Institute of Technology, Javier Gonzalez-Huerta Blekinge Institute of Technology
DOI Authorizer link File Attached
10:44
7m
Talk
How Well Small Language Models Can Be Adapted for Software Maintenance and Refactoring Tasks
Short Papers and Posters
Gabija Asvydyte University of Groningen, Sushant Kumar Pandey University of Groningen, The Netherlands, Sivajeet Chand Technical University of Munich