Are code smell detection tools suitable for detecting architecture degradation?
Abstract
Context: Several studies suggest that there is a relation between code smells and architecture degradation. They claim that classes, which have degraded architecture-wise, can be detected on the basis of code smells, at least if these are manually identified in the source code.
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Some code smell detection tools employ code smell metrics relevant to identification of architectural smells.
“Some code smell detection tools also employ code smell metrics that are relevant to the identification of architectural smells [48, 58].”
From Software Architecture in Practice: Challenges and Opportunities (2023) · cites this paper as [48]
Several code smell detection techniques look at correlation between code smells and architectural smells for locating architecture problems.
“Several code smell detection techniques look at the correlation between code smells and architectural smells for locating architecture problems (e.g., [48]).”
From Software Architecture in Practice: Challenges and Opportunities (2023) · cites this paper as [48]
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Flagged first, then by citations
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Architecture Anti-Patterns: Automatically Detectable Violations of Design Principles
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A systematic mapping study on architectural smells detection
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“Conversely, developers are suggested to be actively involved (P3f), by providing explanations or rationale behind implementation decisions that violate the criteria for metrics as specified in monitoring tools.”
BackgroundTechnical debt resulting from architectural degradation and code smells
Das, D., Maruf, A. A., Islam, R., Lambaria, N., Kim, S., Abdelfattah, A. S., Cerny, T., Frajták, K., Bureš, M., & Tisnovsky, P. (2021) · ACM SIGAPP Applied Computing Review · doi:10.1145/3512753.3512755 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Symptoms of Architecture Erosion in Code Reviews: A Study of Two OpenStack Projects
Li, R., Soliman, M., Liang, P., & Avgeriou, P. (2022) · IEEE International Conference on Software Architecture (ICSA) · doi:10.1109/icsa53651.2022.00011 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Architectural Degradation: Definition, Motivations, Measurement Andremediation ApproachesPreprint
Ahmed, N., Su, R., Esposito, M., Janes, A., Lenarduzzi, V., & Taibi, D. (2025) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.5370705 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
An Empirical Analysis of Approach‐Based Metrics Model for Architectural Erosion Detection
Baabad, A., Zulzalil, H. B., Hassan, S., & Baharom, S. B. (2025) · Software Practice and Experience · doi:10.1002/spe.3431
- Authors
- Lenhard, J., Hassan, M. M., Blom, M., & Herold, S.
- Affiliations
- Karlstad University (SE)
- Qassim University (SA)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the 11th European Conference on Software Architecture: Companion Proceedings
- Publisher
- ACM
- Published
- 2017-09-11
- Pages
- 138-144
- OpenAlex
- W2752075558
- Cited by
- 10
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 0.84
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- European Conference on Software Architecture (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Software Engineering Research
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Advanced Software Engineering Methodologies
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Software › Model-Driven Software Engineering Techniques
- Keywords
- code smells, software architecture, software quality, class design
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