{"id":"https://openalex.org/W2517910349","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1145/2973839.2973848","title":"Does refactoring improve software structural quality? A longitudinal study of 25 projects","display_name":"Does refactoring improve software structural quality? A longitudinal study of 25 projects","publication_year":2016,"publication_date":"2016-08-31","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W2517910349","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1145/2973839.2973848","mag":"2517910349"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1145/2973839.2973848","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1145/2973839.2973848","pdf_url":null,"source":null,"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Proceedings of the XXX Brazilian Symposium on Software Engineering","raw_type":"proceedings-article"},"type":"conference-paper","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/A5027260014","display_name":"Diego Cedrim","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I2699952","display_name":"Pontif\u00edcia Universidade Cat\u00f3lica do Rio de Janeiro","ror":"https://ror.org/01dg47b60","country_code":"BR","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I2699952"]}],"countries":["BR"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Diego Cedrim","raw_affiliation_strings":["PUC-Rio, Brazil"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"PUC-Rio, Brazil","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I2699952"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5103226106","display_name":"Leonardo Sousa","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0397-8277"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I2699952","display_name":"Pontif\u00edcia Universidade Cat\u00f3lica do Rio de Janeiro","ror":"https://ror.org/01dg47b60","country_code":"BR","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I2699952"]}],"countries":["BR"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Leonardo Sousa","raw_affiliation_strings":["PUC-Rio, Brazil"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"PUC-Rio, Brazil","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I2699952"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5007792821","display_name":"Alessandro Garcia","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5788-5215"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I2699952","display_name":"Pontif\u00edcia Universidade Cat\u00f3lica do Rio de Janeiro","ror":"https://ror.org/01dg47b60","country_code":"BR","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I2699952"]}],"countries":["BR"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Alessandro Garcia","raw_affiliation_strings":["PUC-Rio, Brazil"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"PUC-Rio, Brazil","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I2699952"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5075988425","display_name":"Rohit Gheyi","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5562-4449"},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Rohit Gheyi","raw_affiliation_strings":["UFCG, Brazil"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"UFCG, Brazil","institution_ids":[]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":1,"institutions_distinct_count":1,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":3.9308,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":39,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.95309351,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":true},"cited_by_percentile_year":{"min":90,"max":99},"biblio":{"volume":null,"issue":null,"first_page":"73","last_page":"82"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10260","display_name":"Software Engineering Research","score":0.9998999834060669,"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"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10260","display_name":"Software Engineering Research","score":0.9998999834060669,"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/T12423","display_name":"Software Reliability and Analysis Research","score":0.9940000176429749,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1712","display_name":"Software"},"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/T12127","display_name":"Software System Performance and Reliability","score":0.9934999942779541,"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"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/code-refactoring","display_name":"Code refactoring","score":0.9965837001800537},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/code-smell","display_name":"Code smell","score":0.9485306739807129},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-science","display_name":"Computer science","score":0.6409403085708618},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/software-quality","display_name":"Software quality","score":0.5505139231681824},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/software-engineering","display_name":"Software engineering","score":0.5341450572013855},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/code","display_name":"Code (set theory)","score":0.5236687064170837},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/software","display_name":"Software","score":0.49747613072395325},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/quality","display_name":"Quality (philosophy)","score":0.4909344017505646},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/software-maintenance","display_name":"Software maintenance","score":0.44676390290260315},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/software-system","display_name":"Software system","score":0.40557610988616943},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/software-development","display_name":"Software development","score":0.33671456575393677},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/programming-language","display_name":"Programming language","score":0.3274233937263489},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/set","display_name":"Set (abstract data type)","score":0.06186920404434204}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C152752567","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q116877","display_name":"Code refactoring","level":3,"score":0.9965837001800537},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C133237599","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2295111","display_name":"Code smell","level":5,"score":0.9485306739807129},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.6409403085708618},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C117447612","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1412670","display_name":"Software quality","level":4,"score":0.5505139231681824},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C115903868","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q80993","display_name":"Software engineering","level":1,"score":0.5341450572013855},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2776760102","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5139990","display_name":"Code (set theory)","level":3,"score":0.5236687064170837},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777904410","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7397","display_name":"Software","level":2,"score":0.49747613072395325},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779530757","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1207505","display_name":"Quality (philosophy)","level":2,"score":0.4909344017505646},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C101317890","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q940053","display_name":"Software maintenance","level":4,"score":0.44676390290260315},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C149091818","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2429814","display_name":"Software system","level":3,"score":0.40557610988616943},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C529173508","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q638608","display_name":"Software development","level":3,"score":0.33671456575393677},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C199360897","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9143","display_name":"Programming language","level":1,"score":0.3274233937263489},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C177264268","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1514741","display_name":"Set (abstract data type)","level":2,"score":0.06186920404434204},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C111472728","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9471","display_name":"Epistemology","level":1,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C138885662","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5891","display_name":"Philosophy","level":0,"score":0.0}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1145/2973839.2973848","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1145/2973839.2973848","pdf_url":null,"source":null,"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Proceedings of the XXX Brazilian Symposium on Software Engineering","raw_type":"proceedings-article"}],"best_oa_location":null,"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"pdf":false,"grobid_xml":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":31,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W85109191","https://openalex.org/W191168329","https://openalex.org/W1524601730","https://openalex.org/W1534729839","https://openalex.org/W1965725964","https://openalex.org/W1973306813","https://openalex.org/W1988254449","https://openalex.org/W2014216297","https://openalex.org/W2014418158","https://openalex.org/W2040417066","https://openalex.org/W2044556410","https://openalex.org/W2063849064","https://openalex.org/W2081809611","https://openalex.org/W2082394080","https://openalex.org/W2084965553","https://openalex.org/W2087305857","https://openalex.org/W2091064206","https://openalex.org/W2098664130","https://openalex.org/W2099535882","https://openalex.org/W2112533109","https://openalex.org/W2127769982","https://openalex.org/W2143119899","https://openalex.org/W2153111806","https://openalex.org/W2153887189","https://openalex.org/W2157543803","https://openalex.org/W2158324307","https://openalex.org/W2159682099","https://openalex.org/W2357064193","https://openalex.org/W2787379525","https://openalex.org/W3147782219","https://openalex.org/W6683106902"],"related_works":["https://openalex.org/W2316262258","https://openalex.org/W2043955315","https://openalex.org/W3011438165","https://openalex.org/W2331309324","https://openalex.org/W2975141527","https://openalex.org/W4225283803","https://openalex.org/W2149554597","https://openalex.org/W4378808481","https://openalex.org/W4385489206","https://openalex.org/W3204913240"],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Code":[0],"smells":[1,72,103,165,173,187],"in":[2,31,122],"a":[3,48,78,203],"program":[4,49],"represent":[5],"indications":[6],"of":[7,47,54,98,101,108,118,160],"structural":[8,45,199],"quality":[9,46,200],"problems,":[10],"which":[11],"can":[12],"be":[13,207],"addressed":[14],"by":[15,22,50,175],"software":[16,41],"refactoring.":[17,74],"Refactoring":[18],"is":[19,36],"widely":[20],"practiced":[21],"developers,":[23],"and":[24,64,166],"considerable":[25],"development":[26],"effort":[27],"has":[28,59,151],"been":[29,60,152],"invested":[30],"refactoring":[32,42,93,161,176],"tooling":[33],"support.":[34],"There":[35],"an":[37],"explicit":[38],"assumption":[39],"that":[40,141],"improves":[43],"the":[44,91,96,105,116],"reducing":[51],"its":[52],"density":[53,97],"code":[55,71,102,135,164],"smells.":[56,136],"However,":[57],"little":[58],"reported":[61],"about":[62],"whether":[63],"to":[65,83,144,155,178,196,206,210],"what":[66,150],"extent":[67],"developers":[68],"successfully":[69],"remove":[70],"through":[73],"This":[75],"paper":[76],"reports":[77],"first":[79],"longitudinal":[80],"study":[81],"intended":[82],"address":[84],"this":[85],"gap.":[86],"We":[87],"analyze":[88],"how":[89],"often":[90,148],"commonly-used":[92],"types":[94,100],"affect":[95],"5":[99],"along":[104],"version":[106],"histories":[107],"25":[109],"projects.":[110],"Our":[111],"findings":[112,139],"are":[113],"based":[114],"on":[115,184],"analysis":[117],"2,635":[119],"refactorings":[120,128,142],"distributed":[121],"11":[123],"different":[124],"types.":[125],"Surprisingly,":[126],"2,506":[127],"(95.1%)":[129],"did":[130],"not":[131],"reduce":[132],"or":[133],"introduce":[134],"Thus,":[137],"these":[138],"suggest":[140],"lead":[143],"smell":[145],"reduction":[146],"less":[147],"than":[149],"reported.":[153],"According":[154],"our":[156],"data,":[157],"only":[158,189],"2.24%":[159],"changes":[162],"removed":[163,191],"2.66%":[167],"introduced":[168],"new":[169],"ones.":[170],"Moreover,":[171],"several":[172],"induced":[174],"tended":[177],"live":[179],"long,":[180],"i.e.,":[181],"146":[182],"days":[183],"average.":[185],"These":[186],"were":[188],"eventually":[190],"when":[192],"smelly":[193],"elements":[194],"started":[195,205],"exhibit":[197],"poor":[198],"and,":[201],"as":[202],"consequence,":[204],"more":[208],"costly":[209],"get":[211],"rid":[212],"of.":[213]},"counts_by_year":[{"year":2025,"cited_by_count":1},{"year":2023,"cited_by_count":5},{"year":2022,"cited_by_count":3},{"year":2021,"cited_by_count":6},{"year":2020,"cited_by_count":9},{"year":2019,"cited_by_count":3},{"year":2018,"cited_by_count":5},{"year":2017,"cited_by_count":6},{"year":2016,"cited_by_count":1}],"updated_date":"2026-07-29T14:22:42.915294","created_date":"2025-10-10T00:00:00"}