CAREER: Transforming Peer Code Review Environments for Code Learning and High-Quality Feedback

Wayne State University, Detroit MI

Investigators

Abstract

Peer Code Review (CR) is a mandatory software verification practice among most Open Source and commercial software development organizations. In this practice, one or more peers inspect and approve a code change before integrating it into a project's repository. As developers spend significant effort daily on CR tasks, improving CR effectiveness is a high priority for these organizations. Challenges limiting CR effectiveness include i) code learning difficulties with limited time and code context, ii) misunderstandings among the participants over confusing suggestions, and iii) interpersonal conflicts due to disrespectful feedback. In the short term, these challenges increase required efforts, delay the outcomes, increase the likelihood of rejections, and frustrate the participants. In the long term, these challenges degrade software quality, cause conflicts among the participants, demotivate an inappropriately written review's target, pose barriers to newcomers' onboarding, and may cause long-term developers to leave permanently. Despite several studies confirming these short and long-term consequences, practical solutions to these challenges remain nonexistent. The project will work to improve code reviews using empirical methods, machine learning and natural language techniques to produce tools to be used in code reviews. The new knowledge and tools will be used as an educational platform that will support students and new programmers. The project will integrate the research into education by using the tools in classes and curriculum development, using the classroom setting to gain understanding of how to support developers in professional code-review ecosystems. The overarching goal of this project is to transform code review tools and workflows to address participants' challenges in understanding the code under review and communicate that understanding with others in unambiguous and constructive languages. This project will empirically develop a theoretical framework for each of the three aforementioned CR challenges to characterize the root causes and potential mitigating solutions. The experimental platform will transform CR tools into an online learning environments that integrate additional cognitive support tools to support unmet or partially met information needs and just-in-time coaching to assist CR participants in communicating unambiguously and constructively. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.