{"id":"https://openalex.org/W4408609629","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tse.2025.3553112","title":"Understanding and Identifying Technical Debt in the Co-Evolution of Production and Test Code","display_name":"Understanding and Identifying Technical Debt in the Co-Evolution of Production and Test Code","publication_year":2025,"publication_date":"2025-03-19","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W4408609629","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tse.2025.3553112"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1109/tse.2025.3553112","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tse.2025.3553112","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S8351582","display_name":"IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering","issn_l":"0098-5589","issn":["0098-5589","1939-3520","2326-3881"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310320439","host_organization_name":"IEEE Computer Society","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310320439","https://openalex.org/P4310319808"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["IEEE Computer Society","Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers"],"type":"journal"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering","raw_type":"journal-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref"],"open_access":{"is_oa":false,"oa_status":"closed","oa_url":null,"any_repository_has_fulltext":false},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5109622635","display_name":"Yimeng Guo","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5678-9061"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I881766915","display_name":"Nanjing University","ror":"https://ror.org/01rxvg760","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I881766915"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Yimeng Guo","raw_affiliation_strings":["State Key Laboratory for Novel Software Technology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5678-9061","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"State Key Laboratory for Novel Software Technology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I881766915"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5101759548","display_name":"Zhifei Chen","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3475-6979"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I36399199","display_name":"Nanjing University of Science and Technology","ror":"https://ror.org/00xp9wg62","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I36399199"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Zhifei Chen","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Computer Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3475-6979","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Computer Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I36399199"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5000773809","display_name":"Lu Xiao","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3202-3077"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I108468826","display_name":"Stevens Institute of Technology","ror":"https://ror.org/02z43xh36","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I108468826"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Lu Xiao","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Systems and Enterprises, Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering and Science, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, USA","School of Systems and Enterprises, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, USA"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3202-3077","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Systems and Enterprises, Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering and Science, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I108468826"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Systems and Enterprises, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I108468826"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":null,"display_name":"Lin Chen","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2352-2226"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I881766915","display_name":"Nanjing University","ror":"https://ror.org/01rxvg760","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I881766915"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Lin Chen","raw_affiliation_strings":["State Key Laboratory for Novel Software Technology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2352-2226","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"State Key Laboratory for Novel Software Technology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I881766915"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5100360608","display_name":"Yanhui Li","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2282-7175"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I881766915","display_name":"Nanjing University","ror":"https://ror.org/01rxvg760","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I881766915"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Yanhui Li","raw_affiliation_strings":["State Key Laboratory for Novel Software Technology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2282-7175","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"State Key Laboratory for Novel Software Technology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I881766915"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5031391841","display_name":"Yuming Zhou","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4645-2526"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I881766915","display_name":"Nanjing University","ror":"https://ror.org/01rxvg760","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I881766915"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Yuming Zhou","raw_affiliation_strings":["State Key Laboratory for Novel Software Technology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4645-2526","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"State Key Laboratory for Novel Software Technology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I881766915"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":2,"institutions_distinct_count":3,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":0.0,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.05575121,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":false},"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":"51","issue":"5","first_page":"1415","last_page":"1436"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11159","display_name":"Manufacturing Process and Optimization","score":0.6852999925613403,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2209","display_name":"Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/22","display_name":"Engineering"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11159","display_name":"Manufacturing Process and Optimization","score":0.6852999925613403,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2209","display_name":"Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/22","display_name":"Engineering"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-science","display_name":"Computer science","score":0.7975807189941406},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/technical-debt","display_name":"Technical debt","score":0.6497698426246643},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/production","display_name":"Production (economics)","score":0.630184531211853},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/test","display_name":"Test (biology)","score":0.5671075582504272},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/code","display_name":"Code (set theory)","score":0.5097517371177673},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/software-engineering","display_name":"Software engineering","score":0.49067652225494385},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/programming-language","display_name":"Programming language","score":0.4086514413356781},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/software-development","display_name":"Software development","score":0.19810914993286133},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/software","display_name":"Software","score":0.17802691459655762},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/set","display_name":"Set (abstract data type)","score":0.12771204113960266}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.7975807189941406},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C159198006","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1532172","display_name":"Technical debt","level":4,"score":0.6497698426246643},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2778348673","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q739302","display_name":"Production (economics)","level":2,"score":0.630184531211853},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777267654","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3519023","display_name":"Test (biology)","level":2,"score":0.5671075582504272},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2776760102","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5139990","display_name":"Code (set theory)","level":3,"score":0.5097517371177673},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C115903868","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q80993","display_name":"Software engineering","level":1,"score":0.49067652225494385},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C199360897","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9143","display_name":"Programming language","level":1,"score":0.4086514413356781},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C529173508","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q638608","display_name":"Software development","level":3,"score":0.19810914993286133},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777904410","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7397","display_name":"Software","level":2,"score":0.17802691459655762},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C177264268","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1514741","display_name":"Set (abstract data type)","level":2,"score":0.12771204113960266},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C162324750","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8134","display_name":"Economics","level":0,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C86803240","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q420","display_name":"Biology","level":0,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C151730666","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7205","display_name":"Paleontology","level":1,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C139719470","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q39680","display_name":"Macroeconomics","level":1,"score":0.0}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1109/tse.2025.3553112","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tse.2025.3553112","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S8351582","display_name":"IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering","issn_l":"0098-5589","issn":["0098-5589","1939-3520","2326-3881"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310320439","host_organization_name":"IEEE Computer Society","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310320439","https://openalex.org/P4310319808"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["IEEE Computer Society","Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers"],"type":"journal"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering","raw_type":"journal-article"}],"best_oa_location":null,"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/G5718290890","display_name":null,"funder_award_id":"62272221","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320321001","funder_display_name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China"}],"funders":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320321001","display_name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","ror":"https://ror.org/01h0zpd94"}],"has_content":{"grobid_xml":false,"pdf":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":98,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W819538914","https://openalex.org/W1513509640","https://openalex.org/W1826514372","https://openalex.org/W1967995512","https://openalex.org/W1976529316","https://openalex.org/W1980316588","https://openalex.org/W1980712084","https://openalex.org/W1985236007","https://openalex.org/W1991242370","https://openalex.org/W2002638408","https://openalex.org/W2020439121","https://openalex.org/W2028836139","https://openalex.org/W2031271477","https://openalex.org/W2031768977","https://openalex.org/W2039240270","https://openalex.org/W2042124591","https://openalex.org/W2044802063","https://openalex.org/W2056952837","https://openalex.org/W2057244851","https://openalex.org/W2057433090","https://openalex.org/W2083971713","https://openalex.org/W2084426817","https://openalex.org/W2092198121","https://openalex.org/W2098765895","https://openalex.org/W2105063825","https://openalex.org/W2108025693","https://openalex.org/W2108086273","https://openalex.org/W2112343351","https://openalex.org/W2113182468","https://openalex.org/W2114728368","https://openalex.org/W2115919801","https://openalex.org/W2123190302","https://openalex.org/W2127938826","https://openalex.org/W2138068140","https://openalex.org/W2146096861","https://openalex.org/W2152372482","https://openalex.org/W2158868137","https://openalex.org/W2163736745","https://openalex.org/W2165446001","https://openalex.org/W2202602917","https://openalex.org/W2296815447","https://openalex.org/W2359516361","https://openalex.org/W2395052532","https://openalex.org/W2476064825","https://openalex.org/W2562187233","https://openalex.org/W2598424878","https://openalex.org/W2760636665","https://openalex.org/W2772141859","https://openalex.org/W2806402635","https://openalex.org/W2883458659","https://openalex.org/W2894779371","https://openalex.org/W2900471508","https://openalex.org/W2900961173","https://openalex.org/W2913969690","https://openalex.org/W2962898649","https://openalex.org/W2965383609","https://openalex.org/W2966829940","https://openalex.org/W2979468983","https://openalex.org/W2998678832","https://openalex.org/W3009027086","https://openalex.org/W3010689290","https://openalex.org/W3080861437","https://openalex.org/W3082051432","https://openalex.org/W3082245347","https://openalex.org/W3087070939","https://openalex.org/W3089785161","https://openalex.org/W3091625722","https://openalex.org/W3091993693","https://openalex.org/W3094456707","https://openalex.org/W3116410853","https://openalex.org/W3160908899","https://openalex.org/W3176572490","https://openalex.org/W3177447400","https://openalex.org/W3180512116","https://openalex.org/W3191012031","https://openalex.org/W3210114756","https://openalex.org/W4200116101","https://openalex.org/W4205239483","https://openalex.org/W4232129443","https://openalex.org/W4234160275","https://openalex.org/W4238083912","https://openalex.org/W4248123122","https://openalex.org/W4296535233","https://openalex.org/W4312338049","https://openalex.org/W4312713620","https://openalex.org/W4312751706","https://openalex.org/W4316658052","https://openalex.org/W4380682762","https://openalex.org/W4382987312","https://openalex.org/W4384345772","https://openalex.org/W4388483507","https://openalex.org/W4388483889","https://openalex.org/W4392471232","https://openalex.org/W6677041524","https://openalex.org/W6725714994","https://openalex.org/W6726302677","https://openalex.org/W6731397670","https://openalex.org/W6798700559"],"related_works":["https://openalex.org/W2070437629","https://openalex.org/W2060038150","https://openalex.org/W2031271477","https://openalex.org/W1840755814","https://openalex.org/W3130266246","https://openalex.org/W3133010148","https://openalex.org/W2034782377","https://openalex.org/W2598593295","https://openalex.org/W2935052825","https://openalex.org/W2896854091"],"abstract_inverted_index":{"The":[0,130,146],"co-evolution":[1,28,53,61,86,222],"of":[2,36,104,153,163,191,205,212],"production":[3,55],"and":[4,34,56,88,101,110,122,159,224,231,238],"test":[5,57],"code":[6,58],"(PT":[7],"co-evolution)":[8],"has":[9],"received":[10],"increasing":[11],"attention":[12],"in":[13,184],"recent":[14],"years.":[15],"However,":[16],"we":[17,46,70,95],"found":[18],"that":[19,137,143],"existing":[20],"work":[21,234],"did":[22],"not":[23],"comprehensively":[24],"study":[25,75,216],"various":[26],"PT":[27,60,68,85,92,221],"scenarios,":[29],"such":[30],"as":[31,59,182],"the":[32,52,133,154,160,164,171,185,194,203],"qualification":[33],"persistence":[35],"their":[37,225],"effects":[38],"on":[39,76,79,132,235],"software.":[40],"Inspired":[41],"by":[42],"technical":[43,62],"debt":[44,63],"(TD),":[45],"refer":[47],"to":[48,99,118,126],"TD":[49],"generated":[50],"during":[51],"between":[54,193],"(PTCoTD).":[64],"To":[65],"better":[66],"understand":[67],"co-evolution,":[69],"first":[71],"conducted":[72],"an":[73,97,188,208],"exploratory":[74],"its":[77],"characteristics":[78],"15":[80,134],"open-source":[81],"projects,":[82],"finding":[83],"unbalanced":[84],"prevalent":[87],"summarizing":[89],"five":[90],"potential":[91],"flaws.":[93],"Then":[94],"proposed":[96],"approach":[98,139,199],"identify":[100,141],"quantify":[102],"PTCoTDs":[103,125,142,148],"these":[105],"flaw":[106],"patterns,":[107],"considering":[108],"evolutionary":[109],"structural":[111],"relationships.":[112],"We":[113],"also":[114,200],"built":[115],"prediction":[116,210],"models":[117],"describe":[119],"cost":[120,161],"trajectories":[121],"rank":[123],"all":[124,177],"prioritize":[127],"expensive":[128,165],"ones.":[129],"evaluation":[131],"projects":[135],"shows":[136],"our":[138],"can":[140,228],"deserve":[144],"attention.":[145],"identified":[147],"account":[149],"for":[150],"about":[151],"half":[152],"project's":[155],"total":[156],"maintenance":[157,179],"costs,":[158],"proportion":[162,173],"Top-5":[166],"is":[167],"1.8x":[168],"more":[169],"than":[170],"file":[172],"they":[174],"contain.":[175],"Almost":[176],"covered":[178],"costs":[180,204],"persist":[181],"PTCoTD":[183,206],"future,":[186],"with":[187,207],"average":[189,209],"increase":[190],"6.8%":[192],"last":[195],"two":[196],"releases.":[197],"Our":[198,215],"accurately":[201],"predicts":[202],"deviation":[211],"only":[213],"8.3%.":[214],"provides":[217],"valuable":[218],"insights":[219],"into":[220],"scenarios":[223],"effects,":[226],"which":[227],"guide":[229],"practices":[230],"inspire":[232],"future":[233],"software":[236],"testing":[237],"maintenance.":[239]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2025-12-28T23:10:05.387466","created_date":"2025-10-10T00:00:00"}