1. Inten%on‐Based Integra%on of
So1ware Engineering Tools

Walid Maalej

2. Summary
1
We found empirical evidence that poor tool integra4on is a
barrier for developers’ produc4vity
2
We use developers’ inten4ons during work to group changes
that are performed in different tools
3
Our inten4on‐based integra4on framework (InTi) automa4cally
associates changes to their context
4
InTi increases developers’ produc4vity by saving 4me needed to
retrieve informa4on and switch context
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 2

3. Outline of the Talk
1 Mo%va%on
2 Analysis of Tool Integra%on
3 Inten%on‐Based Integra%on Framework
4 Evalua%on and Outlook
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 3

4. Developers Use 5 Tools on Average to Work
on a Single Task
Related informa4on is scaDered across different tools
Ref: [Maalej, ASE 2009]
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 4

5. A Bug Fixing Scenario
Bug report in the issue Source code in the
tracker debugger
API documenta%on in Clarifica%ons in the
the web browser email client
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 5

6. A Release Planning Scenario
Dependencies in a Priori%es in a
modeling tool Requirements tool
Schedule in a Chat with client in
management tool Skype
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 6

7. Outline
1 Mo%va%on
2 Analysis of Tool Integra%on
3 Inten%on‐Based Integra%on Framework
4 Evalua%on and Outlook
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 7

8. Empirical Study: 800 Developers, 2.5 Years
Phase 1 Phase 2
Exploratory, Qualita%ve Explanatory, Quan%ta%ve
1 3 4
Face‐to‐face interviews to determine Field
integra4on problems and needs experiments to
Online survey
compare
to quan%fy
suitability of
2 the state‐of‐
different
prac4ce
Analysis of project ar4facts to integra4on
iden4fy current prac%ces solu4ons
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 8

9. Requirements for Tool Integra%on
1. Support for Tools’ Heterogeneity
• Homogeneous one‐tool solu4ons are
unapplicable in prac4ce
• Integra4on aDempts restricted to specific
tools have failed
• No manual explicit synchroniza4on tasks
• Ar4facts are constantly changing
(e.g. import/export)
• Workflow is constantly interrupted
• Related ar4facts should be linked
automa4cally
2. Support for Change 3. Automa%c Linking
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 9

10. Problems Encountered Due to Poor Tool
Integra%on
Associate changes Retrieve and understand a
to cause previous change
Manual and unidirec4onal Restore past changes
associa4on in text according to logical
comments Changes should be criteria
grouped together
and linked to their
Share context in context Reproduce context
communica%on threads of a previous change
Communica4on threads are not Context is scaDered
linked to the context (e.g. across different tools, when
discussed component) con4nuing postponed work
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 10

11. How would you Logically Group Changes
Performed in Different Tools?
Others
By project phases
By change context 6%
5%
23%
By components
13%
By tasks By requirements
31% 22%
The more changes and interrup4ons are encountered, the more oaen
tasks and context are preferred to organize informa4on
Ref: [Maalej, ASE 2009]
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 11

12. Half of So1ware Engineering Work is
not Defined in Tasks
How much of your work, is explicitly (pre‐) defined in your task list?
60%
50% 48%
% of Respondants
40%
30% 25%
20% 18%
10% 5% 5%
%of Defined
0%
Work
0 ‐ 10% 10 ‐ 30% 30 ‐ 60% 60 ‐ 90% >90%
Need for automated solu4on (i.e. iden4fy and describe undefined tasks)
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 12

13. Outline
1 Mo%va%on
2 Analysis of Tool Integra%on
3 Inten%on‐Based Integra%on Framework
4 Evalua%on and Outlook
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 13

14. Developer’s Work: From Interac%ons to Inten%ons
Assist Colleague on
?
Reusing Component C
Fix Table Rendering Bug
?
Interac%on Current
Granularity Inten%on Task T1: Implement XML
Export
Session Work Session 1 Work Session 2 Work Session 3 Work Session 4 …
Seman4c Read Reuse
Impl.
Read Bug Seek Debug Impl. Test Close
… Chat
… …
interac4on Task Lib
Class
Report Info App Met App Bug
h
Interac4on Use Download Edit Copy Paste Open
Scroll Edit Import
Open Add
Edit Add Step into Step into
with tools Run ..Read Search .. ...
Write
Scroll
Tool T1Library L Classpath Method b Method b
Task List Task T URL URL
Method a Class X
URL
Breakpoint Method x Method y
Time
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 14

15. Meta‐Model of Inten%on‐Based Integra%on
SE Work
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 15

16. Func%onal Requirements of the InTi
Framework
• Sessionize work
Manage
Inten%ons • Resume context
• Describe inten4ons
InTI
Requirements
Retrieve Organize
Informa%on Informa%on
• Query distributed informa4on • Automa4cally link ar4facts
• Navigate related ar4facts • Annotate ar4facts with metadata
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 16

17. Realiza%on of the InTi Framework
Func4onality Enabler
• Metadata management Seman%c Web Technologies
• Types of ar4facts, rela4onships… • Unified Resource Iden4fier
• Advanced querying • Ontologies
• Work Sessioniza%on Context
Awareness
• Recogni4on of related pieces of
informa4on • Context elicita4on
• Inten%on Descrip%on • Context aggrega4on
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 17

18. InTi Ontologies Define the Seman%cs of
So1ware Engineering Work
concerns
Interac4on Ar4fact
has type has type
Change Tool Class
Read
Other
interac4on and Other ar4fact
Test Use Model types Email
ac4vity types
Debug Specify Request Method
Ref: [Maalej, MSR’10]
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 18

19. Shared Seman%cs to Annotate Context:
Developers’ Interac%ons
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 19

20. Shared Seman%cs to Annotate Context
Developers’ Ar%facts
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 20

21. Type Inference for Interac%ons & Ar%facts
concerns member of
event SayHello HelloWord
rdf:type rdf:type rdf:type
Create
Method Class
Method
concerns
event HelloWord
rdf:type rdf:type rdf:type
Browse
Report bug Bug Report
Web
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 21

22. InTI Model for Context Elicita%on
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 22

23. Aggrega%on and Filtering of Context
(Simplified Formula)
Relevance of context The more frequent the The longer the ar4fact
for a par4cular interac4on with an ar4fact, is used, the more
inten4on the more relevant it is relevant it is
Frequency Dura%on
Relevance
Age
The older the interac4on with the
ar4fact, the less relevant the
ar4fact becomes
Ref: [Maalej, RSSE 2010]
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 23

24. Outline
1 Mo%va%on
2 Analysis of Tool Integra%on
3 Inten%on‐Based Integra%on
4 Evalua%on and Outlook
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 24

25. Tracing Related Ar%facts from Inten%on Details
(in MacIntent)
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 25

26. Seman%c Search for Distributed Informa%on
(in WinIntent)
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 26

27. Empirical Evalua%on of InTi
A controlled Measure and 2 Industrial case
experiment compare %me studies with
with and without Bertelsmann and
with 15
using InTi
Equinux (3 months
developers each)
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 27

28. Conclusion: InTI Increases Produc%vity
Associate changes Retrieve and understand
to cause previous changes
89% of 4me saved 72% of 4me saved
A developer saves 6.3
hours in a 40h. week
 a produc%vity
growth of 18%
Share context in Reproduce context
communica%on threads of previous changes
47% of 4me saved 75% of 4me saved
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 28

29. Summary:
Problems & Proposed Solu%ons
Inten4on Metadata Management & Seman4c Web Context
Management Integrated Search Technologies Awareness
Frequent Inefficient Manual
Heterogeneity
changes and seeking of informa4on
of tools and
workflow distributed associa4on
informa4on
interrup4ons informa4on
InTi increases produc%vity by saving %me to retrieve informa%on and switch context
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 29

30. For more informa%on
contact:
Walid Maalej
TUM
maalejw@cs.tum.edu
www1.in.tum.de/walidmaalej
© W. Maalej, July 2010 Inten%on‐Based Tool Integra%on 30