An empirical study of bug fixing rate

Weiqin Zou; Xin Xia; Weiqiang Zhang; Zhenyu Chen; David Lo

doi:10.1109/COMPSAC.2015.57

An empirical study of bug fixing rate

Weiqin Zou, Xin Xia, Weiqiang Zhang, Zhenyu Chen, David Lo

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Paper › Research › peer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Bug fixing is one of the most important activities in software development and maintenance. A software project often employs an issue tracking system such as Bugzilla to store and manage their bugs. In the issue tracking system, many bugs are invalid but take unnecessary efforts to identify them. In this paper, we mainly focus on bug fixing rate, i.e., The proportion of the fixed bugs in the reported closed bugs. In particular, we study the characteristics of bug fixing rate and investigate the impact of a reporter's different contribution behaviors to the bug fixing rate. We perform an empirical study on all reported bugs of two large open source software communities Eclipse and Mozilla. We find (1) the bug fixing rates of both projects are not high, (2) there exhibits a negative correlation between a reporter's bug fixing rate and the average time cost to close the bugs he/she reports, (3) the amount of bugs a reporter ever fixed has a strong positive impact on his/her bug fixing rate, (4) reporters' bug fixing rates have no big difference, whether their contribution behaviors concentrate on a few products or across many products, (5) reporters' bug fixing rates tend to increase as time goes on, i.e., Developers become more experienced at reporting bugs.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings - 2015 IEEE 39th Annual Computer Software and Applications Conference, COMPSAC 2015
Subtitle of host publication	1–5 July 2015 Taichung, Taiwan
Editors	Sheikh Iqbal Ahamed, Carl K. Chang, William Chu, Ivica Crnkovic, Pao-Ann Hsiung, Gang Huang, Jingwei Yang
Place of Publication	Piscataway NJ USA
Publisher	IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Pages	254-263
Number of pages	10
Volume	2
ISBN (Electronic)	9781467365635
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/COMPSAC.2015.57
Publication status	Published - 2015
Externally published	Yes
Event	International Computer Software and Applications Conference 2015 - Taichung, Taiwan Duration: 1 Jul 2015 → 5 Jul 2015 Conference number: 39th https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/conhome/7271781/proceeding (Proceedings)

Conference

Conference	International Computer Software and Applications Conference 2015
Abbreviated title	COMPSAC 2015
Country/Territory	Taiwan
City	Taichung
Period	1/07/15 → 5/07/15
Internet address	https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/conhome/7271781/proceeding (Proceedings)

Keywords

Bug Fixing Rate
Bug Reports
Empirical Study
Statistical Analysis

Access to Document

10.1109/COMPSAC.2015.57

Cite this

Zou, W., Xia, X., Zhang, W., Chen, Z., & Lo, D. (2015). An empirical study of bug fixing rate. In S. Iqbal Ahamed, C. K. Chang, W. Chu, I. Crnkovic, P.-A. Hsiung, G. Huang, & J. Yang (Eds.), Proceedings - 2015 IEEE 39th Annual Computer Software and Applications Conference, COMPSAC 2015: 1–5 July 2015 Taichung, Taiwan (Vol. 2, pp. 254-263). Article 7273626 IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. https://doi.org/10.1109/COMPSAC.2015.57

Zou, Weiqin ; Xia, Xin ; Zhang, Weiqiang et al. / An empirical study of bug fixing rate. Proceedings - 2015 IEEE 39th Annual Computer Software and Applications Conference, COMPSAC 2015: 1–5 July 2015 Taichung, Taiwan. editor / Sheikh Iqbal Ahamed ; Carl K. Chang ; William Chu ; Ivica Crnkovic ; Pao-Ann Hsiung ; Gang Huang ; Jingwei Yang . Vol. 2 Piscataway NJ USA : IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2015. pp. 254-263

@inproceedings{be1bd8199c5247abba1139370a87032d,

title = "An empirical study of bug fixing rate",

abstract = "Bug fixing is one of the most important activities in software development and maintenance. A software project often employs an issue tracking system such as Bugzilla to store and manage their bugs. In the issue tracking system, many bugs are invalid but take unnecessary efforts to identify them. In this paper, we mainly focus on bug fixing rate, i.e., The proportion of the fixed bugs in the reported closed bugs. In particular, we study the characteristics of bug fixing rate and investigate the impact of a reporter's different contribution behaviors to the bug fixing rate. We perform an empirical study on all reported bugs of two large open source software communities Eclipse and Mozilla. We find (1) the bug fixing rates of both projects are not high, (2) there exhibits a negative correlation between a reporter's bug fixing rate and the average time cost to close the bugs he/she reports, (3) the amount of bugs a reporter ever fixed has a strong positive impact on his/her bug fixing rate, (4) reporters' bug fixing rates have no big difference, whether their contribution behaviors concentrate on a few products or across many products, (5) reporters' bug fixing rates tend to increase as time goes on, i.e., Developers become more experienced at reporting bugs.",

keywords = "Bug Fixing Rate, Bug Reports, Empirical Study, Statistical Analysis",

author = "Weiqin Zou and Xin Xia and Weiqiang Zhang and Zhenyu Chen and David Lo",

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doi = "10.1109/COMPSAC.2015.57",

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volume = "2",

pages = "254--263",

editor = "{Iqbal Ahamed}, {Sheikh } and {K. Chang}, {Carl } and Chu, {William } and Crnkovic, {Ivica } and Pao-Ann Hsiung and Huang, {Gang } and {Yang }, {Jingwei }",

booktitle = "Proceedings - 2015 IEEE 39th Annual Computer Software and Applications Conference, COMPSAC 2015",

publisher = "IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers",

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note = "International Computer Software and Applications Conference 2015, COMPSAC 2015 ; Conference date: 01-07-2015 Through 05-07-2015",

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Zou, W, Xia, X, Zhang, W, Chen, Z & Lo, D 2015, An empirical study of bug fixing rate. in S Iqbal Ahamed, C K. Chang, W Chu, I Crnkovic, P-A Hsiung, G Huang & J Yang (eds), Proceedings - 2015 IEEE 39th Annual Computer Software and Applications Conference, COMPSAC 2015: 1–5 July 2015 Taichung, Taiwan. vol. 2, 7273626, IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Piscataway NJ USA, pp. 254-263, International Computer Software and Applications Conference 2015, Taichung, Taiwan, 1/07/15. https://doi.org/10.1109/COMPSAC.2015.57

An empirical study of bug fixing rate. / Zou, Weiqin; Xia, Xin; Zhang, Weiqiang et al.
Proceedings - 2015 IEEE 39th Annual Computer Software and Applications Conference, COMPSAC 2015: 1–5 July 2015 Taichung, Taiwan. ed. / Sheikh Iqbal Ahamed; Carl K. Chang; William Chu; Ivica Crnkovic; Pao-Ann Hsiung; Gang Huang; Jingwei Yang . Vol. 2 Piscataway NJ USA: IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2015. p. 254-263 7273626.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Paper › Research › peer-review

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AU - Xia, Xin

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AU - Lo, David

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N2 - Bug fixing is one of the most important activities in software development and maintenance. A software project often employs an issue tracking system such as Bugzilla to store and manage their bugs. In the issue tracking system, many bugs are invalid but take unnecessary efforts to identify them. In this paper, we mainly focus on bug fixing rate, i.e., The proportion of the fixed bugs in the reported closed bugs. In particular, we study the characteristics of bug fixing rate and investigate the impact of a reporter's different contribution behaviors to the bug fixing rate. We perform an empirical study on all reported bugs of two large open source software communities Eclipse and Mozilla. We find (1) the bug fixing rates of both projects are not high, (2) there exhibits a negative correlation between a reporter's bug fixing rate and the average time cost to close the bugs he/she reports, (3) the amount of bugs a reporter ever fixed has a strong positive impact on his/her bug fixing rate, (4) reporters' bug fixing rates have no big difference, whether their contribution behaviors concentrate on a few products or across many products, (5) reporters' bug fixing rates tend to increase as time goes on, i.e., Developers become more experienced at reporting bugs.

AB - Bug fixing is one of the most important activities in software development and maintenance. A software project often employs an issue tracking system such as Bugzilla to store and manage their bugs. In the issue tracking system, many bugs are invalid but take unnecessary efforts to identify them. In this paper, we mainly focus on bug fixing rate, i.e., The proportion of the fixed bugs in the reported closed bugs. In particular, we study the characteristics of bug fixing rate and investigate the impact of a reporter's different contribution behaviors to the bug fixing rate. We perform an empirical study on all reported bugs of two large open source software communities Eclipse and Mozilla. We find (1) the bug fixing rates of both projects are not high, (2) there exhibits a negative correlation between a reporter's bug fixing rate and the average time cost to close the bugs he/she reports, (3) the amount of bugs a reporter ever fixed has a strong positive impact on his/her bug fixing rate, (4) reporters' bug fixing rates have no big difference, whether their contribution behaviors concentrate on a few products or across many products, (5) reporters' bug fixing rates tend to increase as time goes on, i.e., Developers become more experienced at reporting bugs.

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BT - Proceedings - 2015 IEEE 39th Annual Computer Software and Applications Conference, COMPSAC 2015

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ER -

Zou W, Xia X, Zhang W, Chen Z, Lo D. An empirical study of bug fixing rate. In Iqbal Ahamed S, K. Chang C, Chu W, Crnkovic I, Hsiung PA, Huang G, Yang J, editors, Proceedings - 2015 IEEE 39th Annual Computer Software and Applications Conference, COMPSAC 2015: 1–5 July 2015 Taichung, Taiwan. Vol. 2. Piscataway NJ USA: IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. 2015. p. 254-263. 7273626 doi: 10.1109/COMPSAC.2015.57

An empirical study of bug fixing rate

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