Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Snapshot Metrics Are Not Enough: Analyzing Software Repositories With Longitudinal Metrics, Nicholas Synovic, Matt Hyattt, Rohan Sethi, Sohini Thota, Shilpika, Allan J. Miller, Wenxin Jiang, Emmanuel S. Amobi, Austin Pinderski, Konstantin Läufer, Nicholas J. Hayward, Neil Klingensmith, James C. Davis, George K. Thiruvathukal

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Software metrics capture information about software development processes and products. These metrics support decision-making, e.g., in team management or dependency selection. However, existing metrics tools measure only a snapshot of a software project. Little attention has been given to enabling engineers to reason about metric trends over time -- longitudinal metrics that give insight about process, not just product. In this work, we present PRiME (PRocess MEtrics), a tool for computing and visualizing process metrics. The currently-supported metrics include productivity, issue density, issue spoilage, and bus factor. We illustrate the value of longitudinal data and conclude with a research agenda. …