论文标题
使用假设作为调试援助
Using Hypotheses as a Debugging Aid
论文作者
论文摘要
作为开发人员的调试，开发人员对缺陷的原因提出了假设，并收集了证据以检验这些假设。为了更好地了解假设在调试中的作用，我们进行了两项研究。在一项初步研究中，我们发现，即使有了现代互联网资源的利益，错误的假设也会导致开发人员研究无关紧要的信息并阻止进度。然后，我们进行了一个受控的实验，其中20名开发人员会调试并记录他们的假设。我们发现开发人员几乎没有假设，每个缺陷两个。有正确的假设早期强烈预测后来的成功。我们还研究了两个调试辅助工具的影响：故障位置和潜在的假设。提供故障位置并不能帮助开发人员提出更正确的假设或更成功地调试。相比之下，提供潜在的假设使开发商成功的可能性高六倍。这些结果证明了未来的调试工具的潜力，这些工具能够发现和共享相关的假设。
As developers debug, developers formulate hypotheses about the cause of the defect and gather evidence to test these hypotheses. To better understand the role of hypotheses in debugging, we conducted two studies. In a preliminary study, we found that, even with the benefit of modern internet resources, incorrect hypotheses can cause developers to investigate irrelevant information and block progress. We then conducted a controlled experiment where 20 developers debugged and recorded their hypotheses. We found that developers have few hypotheses, two per defect. Having a correct hypothesis early strongly predicted later success. We also studied the impact of two debugging aids: fault locations and potential hypotheses. Offering fault locations did not help developers formulate more correct hypotheses or debug more successfully. In contrast, offering potential hypotheses made developers six times more likely to succeed. These results demonstrate the potential of future debugging tools that enable finding and sharing relevant hypotheses.
