Toward Next-Generation Automated Test Code Quality Analysis

In the dynamic landscape of software development, ensuring high test code quality is paramount for the maintenance and evolution of robust software systems. This talk will delve into the cutting-edge domain of test code quality detection, focusing on two key aspects such as test smells and flaky tests, discussing their detrimental impact on software reliability and how they can be identified by means of automated approaches. In addition, the talk will introduce the open challenges and research opportunities, emphasizing the importance of (1) personalized test code quality analysis tailored to specific project characteristics and human reasonings; (2) the emerging field of multi-objective test code quality analysis, which seeks to jointly optimize test code quality and effectiveness; and (3) an improved understanding of test code refactoring activities to enhance the current support provided to practitioners.

Fabio Palomba is an Assistant Professor at the Software Engineering (SeSa) Lab of the University of Salerno. He received the European PhD degree in Management & Information Technology in 2017. His PhD Thesis was the recipient of the 2017 IEEE Computer Society Best PhD Thesis Award. His research interests include software maintenance and evolution, empirical software engineering, source code quality, and mining software repositories. He was the recipient of multiple ACM/SIGSOFT and IEEE/TCSE Distinguished Paper Awards, other than various Best Paper Awards in international software engineering conferences. In 2019 he was the recipient of an SNSF Ambizione grant, one of the most prestigious individual research grants in Europe. He was a member of the Steering Committee of ICPC. He has been program co-chair of ICPC 2021 and SANER 2024, as well as part of the organization committee of multiple software engineering conferences and workshops. In addition, he is part of the Editorial Board of of the Elsevier's Information and Software Technology journal (IST), Springer's Empirical Software Engineering Journal (EMSE), Elsevier's Science of Computer Programming (SCICO), and e-Informatica Software Engineering Journal (EISEJ). Since 2023 he is part of the Distinguished Reviewers of ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology (TOSEM). For his reviewing activities, he was the recipient of 14 Distinguished/Outstanding Reviewer Awards.