一句话：通过混合方法实证研究 DevBot 使用，归纳三类用户画像并指出通用智能 bot 的缺失。
论文关注软件工程机器人（DevBot）定义不清、特征与收益挑战缺乏共识的问题。作者采用混合方法实证研究，访谈 21 名开发者并问卷调查 111 名开发者，分析工业实践中 DevBot 的使用方式。研究发现 DevBot 用户可分为三类画像：侧重自主性、聊天界面和“智能性”，每类对 DevBot 定义、使用动机和困难有不同理解。研究还指出当前缺少超越简单自动化或聊天界面的通用智能 bot，而此类 bot 若可用会对项目产生变革性影响。作者建议未来研究将工作置于该框架中，明确目标 bot 类型和从业者可预期的优势。
Software engineering bots – automated tools that handle tedious tasks – are increasingly used by industrial and open source projects to improve developer productivity. Current research in this area is held back by a lack of consensus of what software engineering bots (DevBots) actually are, what characteristics distinguish them from other tools, and what benefits and challenges are associated with DevBot usage. In this paper we report on a mixed-method empirical study of DevBot usage in industrial practice. We report on findings from interviewing 21 and surveying a total of 111 developers. We identify three different personas among DevBot users (focusing on autonomy, chat interfaces, and “smartness”), each with different definitions of what a DevBot is, why developers use them, and what they struggle with.We conclude that future DevBot research should situate their work within our framework, to clearly identify what type of bot the work targets, and what advantages practitioners can expect. Further, we find that there currently is a lack of general purpose “smart” bots that go beyond simple automation tools or chat interfaces. This is problematic, as we have seen that such bots, if available, can have a transformative effect on the projects that use them.
@inproceedings{paperbot5786,
title = {An empirical study of bots in software development: characteristics and challenges from a practitioner’s perspective},
author = {Linda Erlenhov and Francisco Gomes de Oliveira Neto and Philipp Leitner},
booktitle = {FSE},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.1145/3368089.3409680}
}