CAREER: Analyzing Program Changes and Versions for Bug Detection and Diagnosis

软件开发本质上是增量的。如今，许多软件公司采用敏捷的流程和较短的发布周期，软件需要更快地交付但有质量保证，并且许多版本的软件可能在现场共存并需要维护。虽然更快的版本并不会增加用户对错误的容忍度，但在现有程序上正确地引入更改是具有挑战性的。在最近的研究中，研究人员发现，当编程更改时，开发人员想要知道的最重要信息是此更改是否会破坏其他地方的任何代码，事实上，15-24%的错误修复是不正确的。该项目将开发程序分析，以解决与程序更改和版本相关的质量保证问题，特别是针对三个挑战：有效验证可靠软件版本的更改，自动诊断更改引起的故障，以及有效修补多个软件版本。 该项目将产生可转移到工业界的工具和技术，以提高软件开发的质量和生产力。研究结果也将通过STEM志愿活动、新课程材料以及通过本研究获得的软件和数据的发布进行传播。

Software development is inherently incremental. Nowadays, many software companies adopt an agile process and a shorter release cycle, where software needs to be delivered faster but with quality assurances, and many versions of software may co-exist in the field and need to be maintained. While faster releases do not increase the user's tolerance of bugs, it is challenging to correctly introduce a change on top of existing programs. In recent studies, researchers found that when programming a change, the most important information a developer wants to know is whether this change breaks any code elsewhere, and in fact, 15-24% of the bug fixes are incorrect. This project will develop program analyses to address quality assurance problems related to program changes and versions, specifically for the three challenges: efficiently verifying changes for reliable software releases, automatically diagnosing failures caused by changes, and effectively patching multiple versions of software. The project will result in tools and techniques transferable to industry to improve the quality and productivity of software development. The results will also be disseminated via STEM volunteering, new course materials, and release of the software and data obtained through this research.