The broken windows theory applies to technical debt

Context: The term technical debt (TD) describes the aggregation of sub-optimal solutions that serve to impede the evolution and maintenance of a system. Some claim that the broken windows theory (BWT), a concept borrowed from criminology, also applies to software development projects. The theory sta...

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Veröffentlicht in:Empirical software engineering : an international journal Jg. 29; H. 4; S. 73
Hauptverfasser: Levén, William, Broman, Hampus, Besker, Terese, Torkar, Richard
Format: Journal Article
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: New York Springer US 01.07.2024
Springer Nature B.V
Schlagworte:
Bayesian data analysis
broken windows theory
Compilers
Computer Science
controlled experiment
Crime
Criminal investigations
Criminology
Data analysis
Density
Evidence
Experiments
Interpreters
Programming Languages
Programvaruteknik
Software development
Software development tools
Software Engineering
Software Engineering/Programming and Operating Systems
Source code
technical debt
thematic analysis
Vandalism
controlled experiment
Bayesian data analysis
thematic analysis
technical debt
broken windows theory
Software engineering
Broken windows theory
Criminal activities
Computer software reusability
Thematic analysis
Boiling water reactors
Controlled experiment
Software design
Technical debts
Software development projects
Suboptimal solution
Causal relationships
Software-systems
ISSN:1382-3256, 1573-7616, 1573-7616
Online-Zugang:Volltext
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Zusammenfassung:Context: The term technical debt (TD) describes the aggregation of sub-optimal solutions that serve to impede the evolution and maintenance of a system. Some claim that the broken windows theory (BWT), a concept borrowed from criminology, also applies to software development projects. The theory states that the presence of indications of previous crime (such as a broken window) will increase the likelihood of further criminal activity; TD could be considered the broken windows of software systems. Objective: To empirically investigate the causal relationship between the TD density of a system and the propensity of developers to introduce new TD during the extension of that system. Method: The study used a mixed-methods research strategy consisting of a controlled experiment with an accompanying survey and follow-up interviews. The experiment had a total of 29 developers of varying experience levels completing system extension tasks in already existing systems with high or low TD density. Results: The analysis revealed significant effects of TD level on the subjects’ tendency to re-implement (rather than reuse) functionality, choose non-descriptive variable names, and introduce other code smells identified by the software tool SonarQube, all with at least 95 % credible intervals. Coclusions: Three separate significant results along with a validating qualitative result combine to form substantial evidence of the BWT’s existence in software engineering contexts. This study finds that existing TD can have a major impact on developers propensity to introduce new TD of various types during development.
Bibliographie:ObjectType-Article-1
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ISSN:1382-3256
1573-7616
1573-7616
DOI:10.1007/s10664-024-10456-6