Web Feature Deprecation: A Case Study for ChromeSEIPIndustry Program
Deprecation — in other words, signaling that a function is becoming obsolete in the near future — is necessary for the web ecosystem. Features are updated or replaced with newer APIs, and must be removed in order to foster growth on the web. Deprecation is the precursor step to feature removal; these two functions are tightly coupled, as a successful deprecation leads to a successful removal. However, an unsuccessful deprecation can lead to pain for both developers and end-users. While Chrome has a protocol for web feature deprecation, much of this process is based on a mix of few metrics and intuition. In this paper, we analyze web feature deprecations, in an attempt to improve this process by balancing the need for deprecation and minimizing user pain. First, we produce a taxonomy of reasons why developers want to deprecate web features. We then provide a set of guidelines for helping to decide when it is safe to deprecate a web feature and a methodology for approaching the question of whether to deprecate a web feature. Finally, we provide a tool that helps determine whether a web feature meets these guidelines for deprecation. We also discuss the challenges faced during this process.
Fri 31 MayDisplayed time zone: Eastern Time (US & Canada) change
16:00 - 17:20 | Software DocumentationTechnical Track / Papers / Software Engineering in Practice / Journal-First Papers at Centre-Ville Chair(s): Bonita Sharif University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA | ||
16:00 20mTalk | Web Feature Deprecation: A Case Study for ChromeSEIPIndustry Program Software Engineering in Practice Ariana Mirian University of California San Diego, Nikunj Bhagat Google, Caitlin Sadowski , Adriana Porter Felt Google, Stefan Savage University of California San Diego, Geoffrey M. Voelker University of California San Diego | ||
16:20 20mTalk | Software Documentation Issues UnveiledTechnical TrackIndustry Program Technical Track Emad Aghajani Software Institute, USI - Lugano, Switzerland, Csaba Nagy Università della Svizzera italiana (USI), Olga Lucero Vega-Marquez Universidad de los Andes, Universidad de los Llanos, Mario Linares-Vásquez Systems and Computing Engineering Department , Universidad de los Andes , Bogotá, Colombia , Laura Moreno Colorado State University, Gabriele Bavota Università della Svizzera italiana (USI), Michele Lanza Universita della Svizzera italiana (USI) Pre-print | ||
16:40 20mTalk | 9.6 Million Links in Source Code Comments: Purpose, Evolution, and DecayTechnical Track Technical Track Hideaki Hata Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Christoph Treude The University of Adelaide, Raula Gaikovina Kula NAIST, Takashi Ishio Nara Institute of Science and Technology DOI Pre-print Media Attached | ||
17:00 10mTalk | Categorizing the Content of GitHub README FilesJournal-First Journal-First Papers Gede Artha Azriadi Prana Singapore Management University, Christoph Treude The University of Adelaide, Ferdian Thung , Thushari Atapattu The University of Adelaide, David Lo Singapore Management University Link to publication DOI Pre-print | ||
17:10 10mTalk | Discussion Period Papers |