{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7168294662","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2607.10856","title":"How Do Practitioners Build SE Agents? Insights from a Mixed-Methods Study","display_name":"How Do Practitioners Build SE Agents? Insights from a Mixed-Methods Study","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-07-12","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7168294662","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2607.10856"},"language":null,"primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2607.10856","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2607.10856","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":"2331-8422","issn":["2331-8422"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"Preprint"},"type":"preprint","indexed_in":["datacite"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"green","oa_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2607.10856","any_repository_has_fulltext":true},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5140579822","display_name":"Yunbo Lyu","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Lyu, Yunbo","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5140670374","display_name":"David Williams","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Williams, David","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5140577167","display_name":"Jieke Shi","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Shi, Jieke","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5140593986","display_name":"Zhensu Sun","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Sun, Zhensu","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5140661097","display_name":"Chao Peng","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Peng, Chao","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5140590665","display_name":"Zhou Yang","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Yang, Zhou","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5140654116","display_name":"Federica Sarro","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Sarro, Federica","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5140741827","display_name":"David Lo","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Lo, David","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":0,"institutions_distinct_count":0,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":null,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":null,"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":null,"issue":null,"first_page":null,"last_page":null},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10430","display_name":"Software Engineering Techniques and Practices","score":0.5613999962806702,"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/T10430","display_name":"Software Engineering Techniques and Practices","score":0.5613999962806702,"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/T10260","display_name":"Software Engineering Research","score":0.14309999346733093,"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/T10456","display_name":"Multi-Agent Systems and Negotiation","score":0.1378999948501587,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"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/workflow","display_name":"Workflow","score":0.7303000092506409},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/technical-debt","display_name":"Technical debt","score":0.6626999974250793},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/software-deployment","display_name":"Software deployment","score":0.5939000248908997},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/work","display_name":"Work (physics)","score":0.4948999881744385},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/code","display_name":"Code (set theory)","score":0.4235000014305115},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/key","display_name":"Key (lock)","score":0.40790000557899475},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/comprehension","display_name":"Comprehension","score":0.40610000491142273},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/software","display_name":"Software","score":0.3797999918460846}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C177212765","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q627335","display_name":"Workflow","level":2,"score":0.7303000092506409},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.6887999773025513},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C159198006","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1532172","display_name":"Technical debt","level":4,"score":0.6626999974250793},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C105339364","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2297740","display_name":"Software deployment","level":2,"score":0.5939000248908997},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C115903868","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q80993","display_name":"Software engineering","level":1,"score":0.5734999775886536},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C18762648","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q42213","display_name":"Work (physics)","level":2,"score":0.4948999881744385},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2522767166","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2374463","display_name":"Data science","level":1,"score":0.49459999799728394},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C56739046","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192060","display_name":"Knowledge management","level":1,"score":0.4542999863624573},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2776760102","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5139990","display_name":"Code (set theory)","level":3,"score":0.4235000014305115},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C26517878","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q228039","display_name":"Key (lock)","level":2,"score":0.40790000557899475},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C511192102","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5156948","display_name":"Comprehension","level":2,"score":0.40610000491142273},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C195094911","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14167904","display_name":"Process management","level":1,"score":0.38449999690055847},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777904410","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7397","display_name":"Software","level":2,"score":0.3797999918460846},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C202105479","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q265013","display_name":"Software evolution","level":5,"score":0.367900013923645},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C529173508","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q638608","display_name":"Software development","level":3,"score":0.3571999967098236},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C184356942","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q830382","display_name":"Best practice","level":2,"score":0.3547999858856201},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C136764020","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q466","display_name":"World Wide Web","level":1,"score":0.34470000863075256},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C112930515","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4389547","display_name":"Risk analysis (engineering)","level":1,"score":0.319599986076355},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C14185376","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30232","display_name":"Agile software development","level":2,"score":0.299699991941452},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C152752567","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q116877","display_name":"Code refactoring","level":3,"score":0.29589998722076416},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777655877","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3475740","display_name":"Design science research","level":3,"score":0.27970001101493835},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777561058","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2652119","display_name":"Program comprehension","level":4,"score":0.2680000066757202},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C101317890","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q940053","display_name":"Software maintenance","level":4,"score":0.26350000500679016},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C43126263","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q128751","display_name":"Source code","level":2,"score":0.2567000091075897},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C145644426","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q169411","display_name":"Unified Modeling Language","level":3,"score":0.25440001487731934},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C149091818","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2429814","display_name":"Software system","level":3,"score":0.2526000142097473}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2607.10856","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2607.10856","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":"2331-8422","issn":["2331-8422"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":null,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"Preprint"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2607.10856","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2607.10856","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":"2331-8422","issn":["2331-8422"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"Preprint"},"sustainable_development_goals":[{"id":"https://metadata.un.org/sdg/17","display_name":"Partnerships for the goals","score":0.4405955672264099}],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"grobid_xml":false,"pdf":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":0,"referenced_works":[],"related_works":[],"abstract_inverted_index":{"The":[0],"rise":[1],"of":[2,72,90,134,164],"Software":[3],"Engineering":[4],"(SE)":[5],"agents,":[6],"i.e.,":[7],"LLM-based":[8],"agents":[9,56,92],"that":[10,100,169,181],"can":[11],"understand":[12],"large":[13],"codebases":[14],"and":[15,30,68,93,115,124,130,141,158,161,172,206],"carry":[16],"out":[17],"engineering":[18],"tasks":[19],"with":[20,62,185],"limited":[21],"human":[22],"intervention,":[23],"has":[24],"been":[25],"marked":[26],"by":[27,210],"rapid":[28],"advances":[29],"adoption,":[31],"but":[32,51],"little":[33],"is":[34,77,154],"known":[35],"about":[36],"how":[37,54,82],"developers":[38,96],"build":[39],"these":[40],"systems":[41],"in":[42,87,112,151],"practice:":[43],"existing":[44],"studies":[45],"mine":[46],"repositories":[47],"or":[48,191],"examine":[49],"deployment,":[50],"few":[52],"investigate":[53],"SE":[55,83,91],"are":[57,85],"constructed.":[58],"Through":[59],"semi-structured":[60],"interviews":[61],"20":[63],"practitioners":[64],"from":[65],"12":[66,186],"organizations":[67],"an":[69],"online":[70],"survey":[71],"80":[73],"practitioners,":[74],"this":[75],"paper":[76],"the":[78,88,162],"first":[79],"to":[80,193],"study":[81],"processes":[84],"changing":[86],"development":[89],"what":[94],"challenges":[95,180],"face.":[97],"We":[98,136,176],"find":[99],"as":[101,166,202],"implementation":[102],"becomes":[103,117],"cheaper,":[104],"bottlenecks":[105],"shift":[106],"rather":[107],"than":[108],"disappear:":[109],"long-standing":[110],"work":[111],"requirements,":[113],"coordination,":[114],"deployment":[116],"more":[118],"visible,":[119],"while":[120],"reviewing":[121],"generated":[122],"code":[123,203],"evaluating":[125],"agent":[126],"behavior":[127],"become":[128],"new":[129],"increasingly":[131,155],"central":[132],"forms":[133],"work.":[135],"characterize":[137],"a":[138,146],"seven-stage":[139],"workflow":[140],"five":[142],"process":[143],"shifts,":[144],"including":[145,196],"move":[147],"toward":[148],"evaluation-driven":[149],"development,":[150],"which":[152],"evaluation":[153,198],"defined":[156],"early":[157],"steers":[159],"iteration,":[160],"emergence":[163],"specifications":[165],"first-class":[167],"artifacts":[168],"teams":[170,182],"test":[171],"version":[173],"alongside":[174],"code.":[175],"further":[177],"identify":[178],"six":[179],"face,":[183],"together":[184],"corresponding":[187],"practices":[188],"they":[189],"use":[190],"propose":[192],"address":[194],"them,":[195],"unreliable":[197],"signals,":[199],"comprehension":[200],"debt":[201],"outpaces":[204],"understanding,":[205],"behavioral":[207],"changes":[208],"introduced":[209],"provider-side":[211],"model":[212],"updates.":[213]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2026-07-29T09:40:50.615796","created_date":"2026-07-15T00:00:00"}