CodeAware: Sensor-Based Fine-Grained Monitoring and Management of Software Artifacts

Current continuous integration (CI) tools, although extensible, can be limiting in terms of flexibility. In particular, artifact analysis capabilities available through plugin mechanisms are both coarse-grained and centralized. To address this limitation, this paper introduces a new paradigm, CodeAware, for distributed and fine-grained artifact analysis. CodeAware is an ecosystem inspired by sensor networks, consisting of monitors and actuators, aimed at improving code quality and team productivity. CodeAwares vision entails (a) the ability to probe software artifacts of any granularity and localization, from variables to classes or files to entire systems; (b) the ability to perform both static and dynamic analyses on these artifacts; and (c) the ability to describe targeted remediation actions, for example to notify interested developers, through automated actuators. We provide motivational examples for the use of CodeAware that leverage current CI solutions, sketch the architecture of its underlying ecosystem, and outline research challenges.