The evolution of Eclipse

Abstract

We present a metrics-based study of the evolution of Eclipse, an open source integrated development environment, based on data from seven major releases, from releases 1.0 to 3.3. We investigated whether three of the laws of software evolution were supported by the data. We found that Eclipse displayed continual change and growth, hence supporting laws 1 and 6. Six size indicators, out of eight, closely followed trend models. Four were linear and two superlinear. We found evidence of increasing complexity (law 2) in only two indicators, out of five. At subproject level, size and complexity are not distributed uniformly, and subproject size can be modelled as a negative exponential function of the rank position. We encountered a range of different size and complexity trends across subprojects. Our approach and results can help in evaluating the future evolution of Eclipse, the evolution of other systems and in performing comparisons.

Design principles in architectural evolution: A case study

“…Our study and [14,8] thus offer complementary perspectives and we intend in future work to bring together such approaches.…”

“…Mens et al [14] also analyse the evolution of Eclipse, but they rely on different data, mainly source and compiled code of major releases only, and have different aims, concentrating on an in-depth verification of Lehman's first, second and sixth law. Hou [8] looked at source code and release notes to investigate how the design of the Eclipse Java editor evolved.…”

High-MCC Functions in the Linux Kernel

“…The Logiscope tool also uses a threshold of 15 [27]. The STAN static analysis tool gives a warning at 15, and considers values above 20 as an error [17]. The complexity metrics module of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 reports a violation of the cyclomatic complexity metric if a value of more than 25 if found [18].…”

Metrics and Software Quality Evolution: A Case Study on Open Source Software

“…Jermakovics et al [28] propose an approach to visually identify software evolution patterns related to requirements. Mens et al [29] present a metrics-based study of the evolution of Eclipse. The authors consider seven major releases and investigate whether three of the laws of software evolution (continuing change, increasing complexity and continuing growth) were supported by the data collected.…”