{"id":"https://openalex.org/W4408609715","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tse.2025.3553363","title":"FlexFL: Flexible and Effective Fault Localization With Open-Source Large Language Models","display_name":"FlexFL: Flexible and Effective Fault Localization With Open-Source Large Language Models","publication_year":2025,"publication_date":"2025-03-19","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W4408609715","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tse.2025.3553363"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1109/tse.2025.3553363","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tse.2025.3553363","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":null,"display_name":"Chuyang Xu","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0008-7763-6425"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I76130692","display_name":"Zhejiang University","ror":"https://ror.org/00a2xv884","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I76130692"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":true,"raw_author_name":"Chuyang Xu","raw_affiliation_strings":["State Key Laboratory of Blockchain and Data Security, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0008-7763-6425","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"State Key Laboratory of Blockchain and Data Security, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I76130692"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5102825823","display_name":"Zhongxin Liu","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1981-1626"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I76130692","display_name":"Zhejiang University","ror":"https://ror.org/00a2xv884","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I76130692"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Zhongxin Liu","raw_affiliation_strings":["State Key Laboratory of Blockchain and Data Security, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1981-1626","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"State Key Laboratory of Blockchain and Data Security, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I76130692"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5043600295","display_name":"Xiaoxue Ren","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5526-1617"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I76130692","display_name":"Zhejiang University","ror":"https://ror.org/00a2xv884","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I76130692"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Xiaoxue Ren","raw_affiliation_strings":["State Key Laboratory of Blockchain and Data Security, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5526-1617","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"State Key Laboratory of Blockchain and Data Security, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I76130692"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5013265414","display_name":"Gehao Zhang","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0002-8036-5749"},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Gehao Zhang","raw_affiliation_strings":["Ant Group, Hangzhou, China","Ant Group, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0002-8036-5749","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Ant Group, Hangzhou, China","institution_ids":[]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"Ant Group, China","institution_ids":[]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5077788322","display_name":"Ming Liang","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3622-1510"},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Ming Liang","raw_affiliation_strings":["Ant Group, Hangzhou, China","Ant Group, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3622-1510","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Ant Group, Hangzhou, China","institution_ids":[]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"Ant Group, China","institution_ids":[]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5081036622","display_name":"David Lo","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4367-7201"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I79891267","display_name":"Singapore Management University","ror":"https://ror.org/050qmg959","country_code":"SG","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I79891267"]}],"countries":["SG"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"David Lo","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Computing and Information Systems, Singapore Management University, Singapore"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4367-7201","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Computing and Information Systems, Singapore Management University, Singapore","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I79891267"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":2,"institutions_distinct_count":6,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I76130692"],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":9.4616,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":7,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.97740341,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":true},"cited_by_percentile_year":{"min":96,"max":99},"biblio":{"volume":"51","issue":"5","first_page":"1455","last_page":"1471"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T12127","display_name":"Software System Performance and Reliability","score":0.9939000010490417,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1705","display_name":"Computer Networks and Communications"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T12127","display_name":"Software System Performance and Reliability","score":0.9939000010490417,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1705","display_name":"Computer Networks and Communications"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10260","display_name":"Software Engineering Research","score":0.9886999726295471,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10679","display_name":"Service-Oriented Architecture and Web Services","score":0.9807999730110168,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-science","display_name":"Computer science","score":0.8724963665008545},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/programming-language","display_name":"Programming language","score":0.5830403566360474},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/open-source","display_name":"Open source","score":0.5536313652992249},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/fault","display_name":"Fault (geology)","score":0.4510837495326996},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/software-engineering","display_name":"Software engineering","score":0.43362846970558167},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/distributed-computing","display_name":"Distributed computing","score":0.382120281457901},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/natural-language-processing","display_name":"Natural language processing","score":0.32630959153175354},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/software","display_name":"Software","score":0.20269399881362915}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.8724963665008545},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C199360897","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9143","display_name":"Programming language","level":1,"score":0.5830403566360474},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C3018397939","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3644502","display_name":"Open source","level":3,"score":0.5536313652992249},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C175551986","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47089","display_name":"Fault (geology)","level":2,"score":0.4510837495326996},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C115903868","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q80993","display_name":"Software engineering","level":1,"score":0.43362846970558167},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C120314980","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q180634","display_name":"Distributed computing","level":1,"score":0.382120281457901},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C204321447","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30642","display_name":"Natural language processing","level":1,"score":0.32630959153175354},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777904410","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7397","display_name":"Software","level":2,"score":0.20269399881362915},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C127313418","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1069","display_name":"Geology","level":0,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C165205528","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q83371","display_name":"Seismology","level":1,"score":0.0}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1109/tse.2025.3553363","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tse.2025.3553363","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/G7169835300","display_name":null,"funder_award_id":"NRF-NRFI08-2022-0002","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320320709","funder_display_name":"National Research Foundation Singapore"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/G8952019633","display_name":null,"funder_award_id":"62302437","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320321001","funder_display_name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/G978239227","display_name":null,"funder_award_id":"LZ25F020003","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320338464","funder_display_name":"Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province"}],"funders":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320320709","display_name":"National Research Foundation Singapore","ror":"https://ror.org/03cpyc314"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320321001","display_name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","ror":"https://ror.org/01h0zpd94"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320338464","display_name":"Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province","ror":"https://ror.org/01h0zpd94"}],"has_content":{"pdf":false,"grobid_xml":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":57,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W179875071","https://openalex.org/W1950030762","https://openalex.org/W1980015727","https://openalex.org/W1990785546","https://openalex.org/W2009618608","https://openalex.org/W2013655083","https://openalex.org/W2049695835","https://openalex.org/W2067436653","https://openalex.org/W2098549348","https://openalex.org/W2101819268","https://openalex.org/W2135841285","https://openalex.org/W2143331230","https://openalex.org/W2153418968","https://openalex.org/W2156723666","https://openalex.org/W2343875716","https://openalex.org/W2357443253","https://openalex.org/W2400628046","https://openalex.org/W2467903332","https://openalex.org/W2554979658","https://openalex.org/W2735706718","https://openalex.org/W2736091366","https://openalex.org/W2919796195","https://openalex.org/W2941326118","https://openalex.org/W2958754741","https://openalex.org/W2961757301","https://openalex.org/W2962715466","https://openalex.org/W3042956498","https://openalex.org/W3149255455","https://openalex.org/W3195442242","https://openalex.org/W3215367037","https://openalex.org/W4213009331","https://openalex.org/W4225108562","https://openalex.org/W4285490465","https://openalex.org/W4367061193","https://openalex.org/W4384304851","https://openalex.org/W4384345728","https://openalex.org/W4384345748","https://openalex.org/W4386185625","https://openalex.org/W4386380935","https://openalex.org/W4391876619","https://openalex.org/W4391974543","https://openalex.org/W4398239318","https://openalex.org/W4400582623","https://openalex.org/W4400680980","https://openalex.org/W4401906817","https://openalex.org/W6672077861","https://openalex.org/W6681822247","https://openalex.org/W6690815549","https://openalex.org/W6798182279","https://openalex.org/W6843977082","https://openalex.org/W6846254642","https://openalex.org/W6849363277","https://openalex.org/W6856223801","https://openalex.org/W6856504490","https://openalex.org/W6860976335","https://openalex.org/W6863259292","https://openalex.org/W6863476037"],"related_works":["https://openalex.org/W2124842464","https://openalex.org/W2382657549","https://openalex.org/W4376877853","https://openalex.org/W75565505","https://openalex.org/W4214847518","https://openalex.org/W3200575725","https://openalex.org/W4242732953","https://openalex.org/W2186225517","https://openalex.org/W1153144596","https://openalex.org/W1535063848"],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Fault":[0],"localization":[1,182],"(FL)":[2],"targets":[3],"identifying":[4],"bug":[5,77],"locations":[6],"within":[7],"a":[8,32,102,151,239,293],"software":[9,18],"system,":[10],"which":[11,86,109,194,295],"can":[12,110,209,230,244,267,308],"enhance":[13],"debugging":[14],"efficiency":[15],"and":[16,46,67,118,149,179,208,229,247,258,301],"improve":[17],"quality.":[19],"Due":[20],"to":[21,37,40,64,164,167,284],"the":[22,131,136,158,169,176,196,215,227,280,302],"impressive":[23],"code":[24,141,170],"comprehension":[25],"ability":[26],"of":[27,71,115,127,139,146,154,172,205],"Large":[28],"Language":[29],"Models":[30],"(LLMs),":[31],"few":[33],"studies":[34],"have":[35],"proposed":[36],"leverage":[38,112],"LLMs":[39,163],"locate":[41,245],"bugs,":[42],"i.e.,":[43],"LLM-based":[44,104,254],"FL,":[45],"demonstrated":[47],"promising":[48],"performance.":[49,312],"However,":[50],"first,":[51],"these":[52,98],"methods":[53,173],"are":[54,81],"limited":[55],"in":[56,93],"flexibility.":[57],"They":[58],"rely":[59],"on":[60,191,221,292],"bug-triggering":[61],"test":[62],"cases":[63],"perform":[65],"FL":[66,105,144,255,277],"cannot":[68,272],"make":[69],"use":[70,262],"other":[72],"available":[73],"bug-related":[74,116,155,206],"information,":[75],"e.g.,":[76],"reports.":[78],"Second,":[79],"they":[80],"built":[82],"upon":[83],"proprietary":[84],"LLMs,":[85,193],"are,":[87],"although":[88],"powerful,":[89],"confronted":[90],"with":[91,121,211,232,238],"risks":[92],"data":[94,287],"privacy.":[95],"To":[96],"address":[97],"limitations,":[99],"we":[100,289],"propose":[101],"novel":[103],"framework":[106],"named":[107],"FlexFL,":[108],"flexibly":[111],"different":[113,147,233],"types":[114],"information":[117,207],"effectively":[119],"work":[120,231],"open-source":[122,192,234,241],"LLMs.":[123,235],"FlexFL":[124,134,161,187,225,237,266,307],"is":[125],"composed":[126],"two":[128,252],"stages.":[129],"In":[130,157,184,264],"first":[132,177],"stage,":[133,160,186],"reduces":[135],"search":[137],"space":[138],"buggy":[140],"using":[142],"state-of-the-art":[143,253],"techniques":[145,278],"families":[148],"provides":[150],"candidate":[152],"list":[153],"methods.":[156],"second":[159],"leverages":[162],"delve":[165],"deeper":[166],"double-check":[168],"snippets":[171],"suggested":[174],"by":[175,275],"stage":[178],"refine":[180],"fault":[181],"results.":[183],"each":[185],"constructs":[188],"agents":[189],"based":[190],"share":[195],"same":[197],"pipeline":[198],"that":[199,224,260,271,306],"does":[200],"not":[201,298],"postulate":[202],"any":[203],"type":[204],"interact":[210],"function":[212],"calls":[213],"without":[214],"out-of-the-box":[216],"capability.":[217],"Extensive":[218],"experimental":[219],"results":[220,304],"Defects4J":[222],"demonstrate":[223],"outperforms":[226],"baselines":[228],"Specifically,":[236],"lightweight":[240],"LLM":[242],"Llama3-8B":[243,296],"42":[246],"63":[248],"more":[249],"bugs":[250,270],"than":[251],"approaches":[256],"AutoFL":[257],"AgentFL":[259],"both":[261],"GPT-3.5.":[263],"addition,":[265],"localize":[268],"93":[269],"be":[273],"localized":[274],"non-LLM-based":[276],"at":[279],"top":[281],"1.":[282],"Furthermore,":[283],"mitigate":[285],"potential":[286],"contamination,":[288],"conduct":[290],"experiments":[291],"dataset":[294],"has":[297],"seen":[299],"before,":[300],"evaluation":[303],"show":[305],"also":[309],"achieve":[310],"good":[311]},"counts_by_year":[{"year":2026,"cited_by_count":1},{"year":2025,"cited_by_count":6}],"updated_date":"2025-12-28T23:10:05.387466","created_date":"2025-10-10T00:00:00"}