Open AccessImproving the Accuracy of Static Source Code Based Software Change Impact Analysis Through Hybrid Techniques: A Review
Author(s) -
Yusuff Shakirat,
Amos Orenyi Bajeh,
Taye Aro,
Kayode S. Adewole,
Departmentof Mathematical
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of software engineering and computer systems
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2289-8522
pISSN - 2180-0650
DOI - 10.15282/ijsecs.7.1.2021.6.0082
Subject(s) - change impact analysis , computer science , software , reliability engineering , software quality , software system , software evolution , software development , process (computing) , risk analysis (engineering) , task (project management) , software sizing , reliability (semiconductor) , software construction , software engineering , systems engineering , engineering , medicine , power (physics) , physics , quantum mechanics , programming language , operating system
Change is an inevitable phenomenon of life. This inevitability of change in the real world has made a software change an indispensable characteristic of software systems and a fundamental task of software maintenance and evolution. The continuous evolution process of software systems can greatly affect the systems’ quality and reliability if proper mechanisms to manage them are not adequately provided. Therefore, there is a need for automated techniques to effectively make an assessment of proposed software changes that may arise due to bug fixes, technological advancements, changing user requirements etc., before their implementation. Software Change Impact Analysis (CIA) is an essential activity for comprehending and identifying potential change impacts of software changes that can help prevent the system from entering into an erroneous state. Despite the emergence of different CIA techniques, they are yet to reach an optimal level of accuracy desired by software engineers. Consequently, researchers in recent years have come up with hybrid CIA techniques which are a blend of multiple CIA approaches, as a way of improving the accuracy of change impacts analysis techniques. This study presents these hybrid CIA techniques and how they improve accuracy. They are also compared and areas for further research are identified.