Two papers co-authored by Lecturer Kazumasa Shimari were presented at EASE 2026 in Glasgow, United Kingdom, on June 11, 2026.
How Do Developers Use Migration Guides? A Case Study of Log4j
Authors: Takahiro Monno, Kazumasa Shimari, Tetsuya Kanda, Kazuma Yamasaki and Kenichi Matsumoto
Publication / venue: 30th International Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering, 2026.
Abstract
Migration guides are a form of software documentation that helps developers address breaking changes introduced in library version updates. Prior studies have examined documents such as release notes, API reference manuals, and patch notes. However, research that focuses specifically on migration guides remains limited. Improving the usability and coverage of migration guides is essential for helping developers resolve breaking changes efficiently. Yet, we still lack a clear understanding of how migration guides are currently provided and how developers use them in practice. To fill this gap, we first investigate whether libraries known to introduce incompatibilities provide migration guides. We then conduct a detailed case study on Log4j, a library that has experienced large-scale breaking updates in the past. We empirically analyze how developers refer to and use the official migration guide in real-world projects. We find that pull request authors most frequently reference the migration guide in the pull request description, and that most references (82.81%) link to the entire guide rather than specific sections. We also find that developers use migration guides not only during major version updates but also during subsequent maintenance tasks, suggesting that the guides serve as a resource throughout the entire migration process.
Source: Abstract
A Longitudinal Analysis of Good First Issue Practices and Newcomer Pull Requests in Popular OSS Projects
Authors: Hirotatsu Hoshikawa, Hidetake Tanaka, Kazumasa Shimari, Raula Gaikovina Kula and Kenichi Matsumoto
Publication / venue: 30th International Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering, 2026.
Abstract
Open-source software (OSS) projects rely on effective newcomer onboarding to sustain their communities. OSS projects widely adopt “good first issue” (GFI) labels to highlight beginner-friendly tasks. As development practices continue to evolve, understanding how these onboarding mechanisms change over time is important for both maintainers and researchers. This study analyzes 406,826 issues and 1,117 newcomer GFI pull requests across 37 popular GitHub repositories (30 of which use GFI labels) over a four-year period from July 2021 to June 2025. We find that while the proportion of issues with GFI labels remained stable during the first three years, it underwent a statistically significant decline beginning in January 2024, with substantial variation across projects not explained by repository age or programming language. Despite this supply-side decline, newcomer engagement with GFI issues remains stable at approximately 27%, suggesting that GFI labels maintain consistent attractiveness. Examining the outcomes of this engagement, we find that the merge rate of newcomer GFI pull requests declined from 61.9% to 42.2%. Initial pull request characteristics such as description length and code size show no significant association with merge outcomes, indicating that success is not predicted by the quantitative characteristics of the initial submission alone. Together, these findings reveal a widening gap between stable newcomer interest in GFIs and the declining availability and success of GFI-based onboarding, underscoring the need for maintainers to sustain both GFI labeling and review support.
Source: Abstract
Presentation date: Official program (June 11, Developer Experience & Productivity, 09:15 / 10:15)