@ARTICLE{Wu15-EMSE-APIChangeEcosystems,
   AUTHOR       = {Wei Wu and Foutse Khomh and Bram Adams and 
      Yann-Ga�l Gu�h�neuc and Giuliano Antoniol},
   JOURNAL      = {Empirical Software Engineering (EMSE)},
   TITLE        = {An Exploratory Study of API Changes and Usages based on 
      Apache and Eclipse Ecosystems},
   YEAR         = {2016},
   MONTH        = {December},
   NOTE         = {47 pages.},
   NUMBER       = {6},
   PAGES        = {2366--2412},
   VOLUME       = {21},
   EDITOR       = {Lionel Briand and Thomas Zimmermann},
   KEYWORDS     = {Topic: <b>Evolution patterns</b>, Venue: <b>EMSE</b>},
   PUBLISHER    = {Springer},
   URL          = {http://www.ptidej.net/publications/documents/EMSE16a.doc.pdf},
   ABSTRACT     = {Frameworks are widely used in modern software 
      development to reduce development costs. They are accessed through 
      their Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), which specify the 
      contracts with client programs. When frameworks evolve, API 
      backwardcompatibility cannot always be guaranteed and client programs 
      must upgrade to use the new releases. Because framework upgrades are 
      not cost-free, observing API changes and usages together at 
      fine-grained levels is necessary to help developers understand, 
      assess, and forecast the cost of each framework upgrade. Whereas 
      previous work studied API changes in frameworks and API usages in 
      client programs separately, we analyse and classify API changes and 
      usages together in 22 framework releases from the Apache and Eclipse 
      ecosystems and their client programs. We find that (1) missing 
      classes and methods happen more often in frameworks and affect client 
      programs more often than the other API change types do, (2) missing 
      interfaces occur rarely in frameworks but affect client programs 
      often, (3) framework APIs are used on average in 35\NOof client 
      classes and interfaces, (4) most of such usages could be encapsulated 
      locally and reduced in number, and (5) about 11\NOof APIs usages 
      could cause ripple effects in client programs when these APIs change. 
      Based on these findings, we provide suggestions for developers and 
      researchers to reduce the impact of API evolution through language 
      mechanisms and design strategies.}
}

{"_id":"mNjeQENpwNicPuRSK","bibbaseid":"wu-khomh-adams-guhneuc-antoniol-anexploratorystudyofapichangesandusagesbasedonapacheandeclipseecosystems-2016","author_short":["Wu, W.","Khomh, F.","Adams, B.","Gu�h�neuc, Y.","Antoniol, G."],"bibdata":{"bibtype":"article","type":"article","author":[{"firstnames":["Wei"],"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Wu"],"suffixes":[]},{"firstnames":["Foutse"],"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Khomh"],"suffixes":[]},{"firstnames":["Bram"],"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Adams"],"suffixes":[]},{"firstnames":["Yann-Ga�l"],"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Gu�h�neuc"],"suffixes":[]},{"firstnames":["Giuliano"],"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Antoniol"],"suffixes":[]}],"journal":"Empirical Software Engineering (EMSE)","title":"An Exploratory Study of API Changes and Usages based on Apache and Eclipse Ecosystems","year":"2016","month":"December","note":"47 pages.","number":"6","pages":"2366–2412","volume":"21","editor":[{"firstnames":["Lionel"],"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Briand"],"suffixes":[]},{"firstnames":["Thomas"],"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Zimmermann"],"suffixes":[]}],"keywords":"Topic: <b>Evolution patterns</b>, Venue: <b>EMSE</b>","publisher":"Springer","url":"http://www.ptidej.net/publications/documents/EMSE16a.doc.pdf","abstract":"Frameworks are widely used in modern software development to reduce development costs. They are accessed through their Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), which specify the contracts with client programs. When frameworks evolve, API backwardcompatibility cannot always be guaranteed and client programs must upgrade to use the new releases. Because framework upgrades are not cost-free, observing API changes and usages together at fine-grained levels is necessary to help developers understand, assess, and forecast the cost of each framework upgrade. Whereas previous work studied API changes in frameworks and API usages in client programs separately, we analyse and classify API changes and usages together in 22 framework releases from the Apache and Eclipse ecosystems and their client programs. We find that (1) missing classes and methods happen more often in frameworks and affect client programs more often than the other API change types do, (2) missing interfaces occur rarely in frameworks but affect client programs often, (3) framework APIs are used on average in 35\\NOof client classes and interfaces, (4) most of such usages could be encapsulated locally and reduced in number, and (5) about 11\\NOof APIs usages could cause ripple effects in client programs when these APIs change. Based on these findings, we provide suggestions for developers and researchers to reduce the impact of API evolution through language mechanisms and design strategies.","bibtex":"@ARTICLE{Wu15-EMSE-APIChangeEcosystems,\r\n AUTHOR = {Wei Wu and Foutse Khomh and Bram Adams and \r\n Yann-Ga�l Gu�h�neuc and Giuliano Antoniol},\r\n JOURNAL = {Empirical Software Engineering (EMSE)},\r\n TITLE = {An Exploratory Study of API Changes and Usages based on \r\n Apache and Eclipse Ecosystems},\r\n YEAR = {2016},\r\n MONTH = {December},\r\n NOTE = {47 pages.},\r\n NUMBER = {6},\r\n PAGES = {2366--2412},\r\n VOLUME = {21},\r\n EDITOR = {Lionel Briand and Thomas Zimmermann},\r\n KEYWORDS = {Topic: <b>Evolution patterns</b>, Venue: <b>EMSE</b>},\r\n PUBLISHER = {Springer},\r\n URL = {http://www.ptidej.net/publications/documents/EMSE16a.doc.pdf},\r\n ABSTRACT = {Frameworks are widely used in modern software \r\n development to reduce development costs. They are accessed through \r\n their Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), which specify the \r\n contracts with client programs. When frameworks evolve, API \r\n backwardcompatibility cannot always be guaranteed and client programs \r\n must upgrade to use the new releases. Because framework upgrades are \r\n not cost-free, observing API changes and usages together at \r\n fine-grained levels is necessary to help developers understand, \r\n assess, and forecast the cost of each framework upgrade. Whereas \r\n previous work studied API changes in frameworks and API usages in \r\n client programs separately, we analyse and classify API changes and \r\n usages together in 22 framework releases from the Apache and Eclipse \r\n ecosystems and their client programs. We find that (1) missing \r\n classes and methods happen more often in frameworks and affect client \r\n programs more often than the other API change types do, (2) missing \r\n interfaces occur rarely in frameworks but affect client programs \r\n often, (3) framework APIs are used on average in 35\\NOof client \r\n classes and interfaces, (4) most of such usages could be encapsulated \r\n locally and reduced in number, and (5) about 11\\NOof APIs usages \r\n could cause ripple effects in client programs when these APIs change. \r\n Based on these findings, we provide suggestions for developers and \r\n researchers to reduce the impact of API evolution through language \r\n mechanisms and design strategies.}\r\n}\r\n\r\n","author_short":["Wu, W.","Khomh, F.","Adams, B.","Gu�h�neuc, Y.","Antoniol, G."],"editor_short":["Briand, L.","Zimmermann, T."],"key":"Wu15-EMSE-APIChangeEcosystems","id":"Wu15-EMSE-APIChangeEcosystems","bibbaseid":"wu-khomh-adams-guhneuc-antoniol-anexploratorystudyofapichangesandusagesbasedonapacheandeclipseecosystems-2016","role":"author","urls":{"Paper":"http://www.ptidej.net/publications/documents/EMSE16a.doc.pdf"},"keyword":["Topic: <b>Evolution patterns</b>","Venue: <b>EMSE</b>"],"metadata":{"authorlinks":{}}},"bibtype":"article","biburl":"http://www.yann-gael.gueheneuc.net/Work/Publications/Biblio/complete-bibliography.bib","dataSources":["8vn5MSGYWB4fAx9Z4"],"keywords":["topic: <b>evolution patterns</b>","venue: <b>emse</b>"],"search_terms":["exploratory","study","api","changes","usages","based","apache","eclipse","ecosystems","wu","khomh","adams","gu�h�neuc","antoniol"],"title":"An Exploratory Study of API Changes and Usages based on Apache and Eclipse Ecosystems","year":2016}