Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
[
11
], a developer would be able to search the code that he or she has previously
written by using his or her own experience as a contextual cue. Another example is
the HCB (History-Centric Browsing)-tempo, which helps a user revisit previously
visited Web pages by indexing a large volume of Web page history using the search
query-based slicing (SQS) technique [
29
].
2.3.4 Using Related Documents to Judge Code Reuse Potential
A number of developers have mentioned that cognitive cost is quite high when read-
ing source code written by someone else. A developer tends to resort to related doc-
uments and information or forums to judge whether to use a specific API, service,
library, or framework, rather than reading their source code, by addressing questions
such as:
•
Is this API well-documented?
•
How often does this library go through major updates?
•
When was this answer provided in the Q&A forum?
•
Which projects use this framework?
•
How does this library rank in Google search? How about for the last 6 months?
•
Which API results in more search results?
•
How lively is this forum?
Discussions in forums often complement the documents created by the
library/API designers by providing what the library/API owners have not tested;
documents often fail to accurately explain in which contexts the library is not
operational, only because it has not been tested.
2.3.5 Judging the Credibility of Existing Code
The number of search results on each of the few potentially usable libraries helps
a developer compare which ones are more popular. Limiting the search to a certain
period of time (e.g., for the period of the last 6 months) helps the developer to better
understand the trends of their uses.
The ranking of search results helps developers infer how popular or commonly
used an API is. Popularity is often a good indication of the adequate maintenance
of the API/library, unless it provides a particular service or functionality.
Timestamps attached to each question and answer in discussion forums provide a
valuable resource to judge whether the library is well maintained. If the information
in the forum is relatively obsolete, developers may assume that an alternative library
should be available that had replaced the current library, and they should start over
searching.
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