Final Thesis: Applying Information Diffusion Models on Code Review Networks
Abstract: Code review is one of the most important quality assurances of today’s software development in open source as well as in industrial context. A side effect of reviewing code is the possibility of sharing knowledge between developers. While this is a common finding in software engineering research, until now, little has been done towards measuring the spread of knowledge. We therefore apply methods of information diffusion, well known in other research disciplines, to social networks constructed of code review data. In this thesis we give an introduction to information diffusion in code review, propose a measurement model for analyzing the information flow during code review and evaluate the model using case study research on two large and mature open source systems. We especially show differences in constructing the underlying code review networks regarding the factor time and the resulting consequences when applying diffusion models. We discuss the applicability of our model with regards to its flaws, possible improvements and differences in types of networks and diffusion models suitable for
measurement.
Keywords: Code review, information diffusion, social networks
PDF: Master Thesis
Reference: Armin Roth. Applying Information Diffusion Models on Code Review Networks. Master Thesis. Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg: 2020.