Using the TypeScript compiler to fix erroneous Node.js snippets

Brittany Reid; Christoph Treude; Markus Wagner

doi:10.1109/SCAM59687.2023.00031

Using the TypeScript compiler to fix erroneous Node.js snippets

Brittany Reid, Christoph Treude, Markus Wagner

Department of Data Science & AI

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

Abstract

Most online code snippets do not run. This means that developers looking to reuse code from online sources must manually find and fix errors. We present an approach for automatically evaluating and correcting errors in Node.js code snippets: Node Code Correction (NCC). NCC leverages the ability of the TypeScript compiler to generate errors and inform code corrections through the combination of TypeScript's builtin codefixes, our own targeted fixes, and deletion of erroneous lines. Compared to existing approaches using linters, our findings suggest that NCC is capable of detecting a larger number of errors per snippet and more error types, and it is more efficient at fixing snippets. We find that 73.7% of the code snippets in NPM documentation have errors; with the use of NCC's corrections, this number was reduced to 25.1%. Our evaluation confirms that the use of the TypeScript compiler to inform code corrections is a promising strategy to aid in the reuse of code snippets from online sources.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings - 2023 IEEE 23rd International Working Conference on Source Code Analysis and Manipulation, SCAM 2023
Editors	Leon Moonen, Christian Newman, Alessandra Gorla
Place of Publication	Piscataway NJ USA
Publisher	IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Pages	220-230
Number of pages	11
ISBN (Electronic)	9798350305067
ISBN (Print)	9798350305074
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/SCAM59687.2023.00031
Publication status	Published - 2023
Event	IEEE International Working Conference on Source Code Analysis and Manipulation 2023 - Bogota, Colombia Duration: 1 Oct 2023 → 2 Oct 2024 Conference number: 23rd https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/conhome/10356389/proceeding (Proceedings) https://www.ieee-scam.org/2023/ (Website)

Conference

Conference	IEEE International Working Conference on Source Code Analysis and Manipulation 2023
Abbreviated title	SCAM 2023
Country/Territory	Colombia
City	Bogota
Period	1/10/23 → 2/10/24
Internet address	https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/conhome/10356389/proceeding (Proceedings) https://www.ieee-scam.org/2023/ (Website)

Keywords

Error Correction
Node.js
Static Analysis

Access to Document

10.1109/SCAM59687.2023.00031

Cite this

Reid, B., Treude, C., & Wagner, M. (2023). Using the TypeScript compiler to fix erroneous Node.js snippets. In L. Moonen, C. Newman, & A. Gorla (Eds.), Proceedings - 2023 IEEE 23rd International Working Conference on Source Code Analysis and Manipulation, SCAM 2023 (pp. 220-230). IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. https://doi.org/10.1109/SCAM59687.2023.00031

Reid, Brittany ; Treude, Christoph ; Wagner, Markus. / Using the TypeScript compiler to fix erroneous Node.js snippets. Proceedings - 2023 IEEE 23rd International Working Conference on Source Code Analysis and Manipulation, SCAM 2023. editor / Leon Moonen ; Christian Newman ; Alessandra Gorla. Piscataway NJ USA : IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2023. pp. 220-230

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abstract = "Most online code snippets do not run. This means that developers looking to reuse code from online sources must manually find and fix errors. We present an approach for automatically evaluating and correcting errors in Node.js code snippets: Node Code Correction (NCC). NCC leverages the ability of the TypeScript compiler to generate errors and inform code corrections through the combination of TypeScript's builtin codefixes, our own targeted fixes, and deletion of erroneous lines. Compared to existing approaches using linters, our findings suggest that NCC is capable of detecting a larger number of errors per snippet and more error types, and it is more efficient at fixing snippets. We find that 73.7% of the code snippets in NPM documentation have errors; with the use of NCC's corrections, this number was reduced to 25.1%. Our evaluation confirms that the use of the TypeScript compiler to inform code corrections is a promising strategy to aid in the reuse of code snippets from online sources.",

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Reid, B, Treude, C & Wagner, M 2023, Using the TypeScript compiler to fix erroneous Node.js snippets. in L Moonen, C Newman & A Gorla (eds), Proceedings - 2023 IEEE 23rd International Working Conference on Source Code Analysis and Manipulation, SCAM 2023. IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Piscataway NJ USA, pp. 220-230, IEEE International Working Conference on Source Code Analysis and Manipulation 2023, Bogota, Colombia, 1/10/23. https://doi.org/10.1109/SCAM59687.2023.00031

Using the TypeScript compiler to fix erroneous Node.js snippets. / Reid, Brittany; Treude, Christoph; Wagner, Markus.
Proceedings - 2023 IEEE 23rd International Working Conference on Source Code Analysis and Manipulation, SCAM 2023. ed. / Leon Moonen; Christian Newman; Alessandra Gorla. Piscataway NJ USA: IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2023. p. 220-230.

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

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N2 - Most online code snippets do not run. This means that developers looking to reuse code from online sources must manually find and fix errors. We present an approach for automatically evaluating and correcting errors in Node.js code snippets: Node Code Correction (NCC). NCC leverages the ability of the TypeScript compiler to generate errors and inform code corrections through the combination of TypeScript's builtin codefixes, our own targeted fixes, and deletion of erroneous lines. Compared to existing approaches using linters, our findings suggest that NCC is capable of detecting a larger number of errors per snippet and more error types, and it is more efficient at fixing snippets. We find that 73.7% of the code snippets in NPM documentation have errors; with the use of NCC's corrections, this number was reduced to 25.1%. Our evaluation confirms that the use of the TypeScript compiler to inform code corrections is a promising strategy to aid in the reuse of code snippets from online sources.

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Reid B, Treude C, Wagner M. Using the TypeScript compiler to fix erroneous Node.js snippets. In Moonen L, Newman C, Gorla A, editors, Proceedings - 2023 IEEE 23rd International Working Conference on Source Code Analysis and Manipulation, SCAM 2023. Piscataway NJ USA: IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. 2023. p. 220-230 doi: 10.1109/SCAM59687.2023.00031

Using the TypeScript compiler to fix erroneous Node.js snippets

Abstract

Conference

Keywords

Access to Document

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Cite this