Analyzing Web Search Strategy of Software Developers to Modify Source Codes

• NAKASAI Keitaro

  Nara Institute of Science and Technology

• TSUNODA Masateru

  Kindai University

• MATSUMOTO Kenichi

  Nara Institute of Science and Technology

Abstract

Software developers often use a web search engine to improve work efficiency. However, web search strategies (e.g., frequently changing web search keywords) may be different for each developer. In this study, we attempted to define a better web search strategy. Although many previous studies analyzed web search behavior in programming, they did not provide guidelines for web search strategies. To suggest guidelines for web search strategies, we asked 10 subjects four questions about programming which they had to solve, and analyzed their behavior. In the analysis, we focused on the subjects' task time and the web search metrics defined by us. Based on our experiment, to enhance the effectiveness of the search, we suggest (1) that one should not go through the next search result pages, (2) the number of keywords in queries should be suppressed, and (3) previously used keywords must be avoided when creating a new query.

Journal

• IEICE Transactions on Information and Systems

  IEICE Transactions on Information and Systems E105.D (1), 31-36, 2022-01-01

  The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers

Keywords

• web search strategy
• software development
• subjective experiment

Details

• CRID: 1390853567321707392
• NII Article ID: 130008138810
• DOI: 10.1587/transinf.2021mpl0004
• ISSN: 17451361
• ISSN: 09168532
• Web Site: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/transinf/E105.D/1/E105.D_2021MPL0004/_pdf
• Text Lang: en
• Data Source:
  • JaLC
  • Crossref
  • CiNii Articles
  • KAKEN
• Abstract License Flag: Disallowed