Applying and Integrating Natural Language Processing Analysis of Programs to Aid in Software Maintenance and Evolution

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Proposal P0702401TITLE Applying and Integrating Natural Language Processing Analysis of Programs to Aid in Software Maintenance and EvolutionPI Lori PollockDespite the available software development tools, recent studies have shown that software engineers spend more time reading, locating, and comprehending code than actually writing code. The research focuses on developing program analyses and integrated tools for easing program maintenance and evolution by applying natural language processing (NLP) to source code (identifiers, literals, comments and bug reports) and integrating NLP, information retrieval, and traditional program analysis. Thus, this project takes an interdisciplinary approach to software analysis. The predicted impact will be significantly advancing theory and development of practical tools that provide automatic or semiautomatic assistance in software development and maintanence, which should decrease maintenance time and help to increase the quality of software. The use of students in testing the theories and tools, and the introduction of courses focusing on how to perform effective maintenance, will also have a significant beneficial impact. It will impart new technologies and encourage new ways of thinking about program maintenance and evolution.