Fabricio Gomes de Freitas

Ten years of search based software engineering: a bibliometric analysis

Despite preceding related publications, works dealing with the resolution of software engineering problems by search techniques has especially risen since 2001. By its first decade, the Search Based Software Engineering (SBSE) approach has been successfully employed in several software engineering contexts, using various optimization techniques. Aside the relevance of such applications, knowledge regarding the publication patterns on the field plays an important role to its understanding and identity. Such information may also shed light into SBSE trends and future. This paper presents the first bibliometric analysis to SBSE publications. The study covered 740 publications of the SBSE community from 2001 through 2010. The performed bibliometric analysis concerned mainly in four categories: Publication, Sources, Authorship, and Collaboration. Additionally, estimates for the next years of several publication metrics are given. The study also analyzed the applicability of bibliometric laws in SBSE, such as Bradfords and Lotka.

The Human Competitiveness of Search Based Software Engineering

This paper reports a comprehensive experimental study regarding the human competitiveness of search based software engineering (SBSE). The experiments were performed over four well-known SBSE problem formulations: next release problem, multi-objective next release problem, workgroup formation problem and the multi-objective test case selection problem. For each of these problems, two instances, with increasing sizes, were synthetically generated and solved by both metaheuristics and human subjects. A total of 63 professional software engineers participated in the experiment by solving some or all problem instances, producing together 128 responses. The comparison analysis strongly suggests that the results generated by search based software engineering can be said to be human competitive.

Automated test case prioritization with reactive GRASP

Modifications in software can affect some functionality that had been working until that point. In order to detect such a problem, the ideal solution would be testing the whole system once again, but there may be insufficient time or resources for this approach. An alternative solution is to order the test cases so that the most beneficial tests are executed first, in such a way only a subset of the test cases can be executed with little lost of effectiveness. Such a technique is known as regression test case prioritization. In this paper, we propose the use of the Reactive GRASP metaheuristic to prioritize test cases. We also compare this metaheuristic with other search-based algorithms previously described in literature. Five programs were used in the experiments. The experimental results demonstrated good coverage performance with some time overhead for the proposed technique. It also demonstrated a high stability of the results generated by the proposed approach.

A Multiobjective Optimization Approach to the Software Release Planning with Undefined Number of Releases and Interdependent Requirements

In software development, release planning is a complex activity which involves several aspects related to which requirements are going to be developed in each release of the system. The planning must meet the customers’ needs and comply with existing constraints. This paper presents an approach based on multiobjective optimization for release planning. The approach tackles formulations when the number of releases is not known a priori and also when the stakeholders have a desired number of releases (target). The optimization model is based on stakeholders’ satisfaction, business value and risk management. Requirements interdependencies are also considered. In order to validate the approach, experiments are carried out and the results indicates the validity of the proposed approach.

A fuzzy approach to requirements prioritization

One of the most important issues in a software development project is the requirements prioritization. This task is used to indicate an order for the implementation of the requirements. This problem has uncertain aspects, therefore Fuzzy Logic concepts can be used to properly represent and tackle the task. The objective of this work is to present a formal framework to aid the decision making in prioritizing requirements in a software development process, including ambiguous and vague data.

Software Next Release Planning Approach through Exact Optimization

Software Requirements phase has notable importance, since it is responsible for the definition of the system itself. Several customers indicate which functionalities they want to be present in the software. However, constraints, such as budget, make it impossible to implement all desired requirements at once. One activity in this context is the release planning. The selection of which requirements should be implemented to the next release is necessary. In literature, metaheuristics have been employed to solve this problem. The objective of this work is to propose the use of exact optimization techniques in the problem, with the advantage that the resolution through these techniques ensures the best solutions. The results in several experiments show the validity of such application, in comparison with the metaheuristics approach.

An Evolutionary Optimization Approach to Software Test Case Allocation

The problem of allocating test cases can be considered difficult because of the large number of possible solutions and the many factors that can influence the search for these solutions. There are several studies that use optimization techniques in finding solutions to difficult problems in software engineering in a recent research field called Search-Based Software Engineering (SBSE). Within this context, this paper proposes a multi-objective approach to the problem of allocating test cases. Two experiments were designed and implemented, and demonstrate the applicability and competitiveness of multi-objective algorithms in relation to the results generated by human users.

Applying Mathematical Programming to Efficient Software Release Management

This paper presents a study on the theory and practice of the application of exact optimization in software engineering. A conceptual comparison of optimization approaches in the software engineering context is presented. Software requirements problem’s aspects are analysed regarding suitability for use of exact techniques. The advantage is that such approach can provide the best solution. We aim to indicate the applicability of the technique and also its better behavior.

Empowering Simultaneous Feature and Instance Selection in Classification Problems through the Adaptation of Two Selection Algorithms

This paper proposes a new approach to data selection, a key issue in classification problems. This approach, which is based on a feature selection algorithm and one instance selection algorithm, reduces the original dataset in two dimensions, selecting relevant features and retaining important instances simultaneously. The search processes for the best feature and instance subsets occur separately yet, due to the influence of features in the importance of instances and vice versa, they bias one another. The experiments validate the proposed approach showing that this existing relation between features and instances can be reproduced when constructing data selection algorithms and that it leads to a quality improval comparing to the sequential execution of both algorithms.

Web patterns in the century XXI

The remarkable growth in the use of the Internet has allowed more interaction among its users. In addition to more users in interaction, this superior amount of connected people also represents a source of generation of information. In this context, the perception of the Internet users as active agents in the processes of creation and information dissemination on the network was rethinked in the Internet environment. This resulted in both the creation of tools and in a change in the vision on both the environment and the application focus. This paper presents a catalog of patterns related to this new paradigm of Web use. The patterns are solutions that enable Web sites and services to be adapted so that they belong to this new Internet context.