A Survey on the Identification of Bug-inducing Commits

PhD Qualifying Examination


Title: "A Survey on the Identification of Bug-inducing Commits"

by

Miss Xiao CHEN


Abstract:

During software evolution, developers may inadvertently introduce bugs into 
software systems due to their inherent complexity and the collaborative 
nature of software development. Identifying the commits that introduce bugs 
leading to test failures (bug-inducing commits, or BICs) can facilitate 
debugging and repair, and has attracted interest from both academic and 
industrial communities.

Given the importance of BICs in the debugging process, plenty of approaches 
have been proposed for effective BIC identification. This survey presents a 
systematic literature review that summarizes research efforts related to BIC 
identification. Specifically, we collect and review papers in this area, 
classifying existing BIC identification approaches into three categories, 
namely dynamic, semi-dynamic and static approaches. We further explore 
studies that identify bug-inducing changes beyond the commit level and for 
specific types of bugs or systems. Additionally, we examine research on 
just-in-time (JIT) defective commit prediction, which closely aligns with the 
BIC identification task. This survey also highlights key challenges in 
precise BIC identification and suggests opportunities for future research.


Date:                   Monday, 18 November 2024

Time:                   3:00pm - 5:00pm

Venue:                  Room CYT-G001
                        Lifts 35/36

Committee Members:      Prof. Shing-Chi Cheung (Supervisor)
                        Dr. Jiasi Shen (Chairperson)
                        Dr. Dongdong She
                        Dr. Shuai Wang