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A Novel, Tool-Supported Catalog of Community Smell Symptoms
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  • Antonio Della Porta,
  • Stefano Lambiase,
  • Gemma Catolino,
  • Filomena Ferrucci,
  • Fabio Palomba
Antonio Della Porta
Universita degli Studi di Salerno Dipartimento di Informatica

Corresponding Author:adellaporta@unisa.it

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Stefano Lambiase
Universita degli Studi di Salerno Dipartimento di Informatica
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Gemma Catolino
Universita degli Studi di Salerno Dipartimento di Informatica
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Filomena Ferrucci
Universita degli Studi di Salerno Dipartimento di Informatica
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Fabio Palomba
Universita degli Studi di Salerno Dipartimento di Informatica
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Abstract

Software development is a multifaceted endeavor, requiring a profound grasp of both social dynamics and technical intricacies. Poor collaboration often leads to the accumulation of social debt, manifesting as unforeseen project costs due to sub-optimal team interactions. Community smells have emerged as indicators of these socio-technical inefficiencies and potential social debt. While previous research has focused on automated detection of community smells through analyzing developer communication patterns, our study offers a complementary approach. We emphasize the critical role of project managers in assessing socio-technical dynamics and propose a novel, tool-supported catalog of symptoms. This catalog can be used for manual inspections to identify early signs of community smells at the individual level, allowing managers to address issues before they escalate. Using a mixed-method design that leveraged an existing literature review and a user survey, we cataloged symptoms related to four community smell types. Additionally, we developed TOAST, a tool that operationalizes this catalog, and assessed its usability. The paper concludes by shedding light on the potential impact of our work and its contribution to advancing the detection and analysis of community smells.
10 Sep 2024Submitted to Journal of Software: Evolution and Process
11 Sep 2024Submission Checks Completed
11 Sep 2024Assigned to Editor
03 Oct 2024Reviewer(s) Assigned