A Study of Visual Studio Usage

in PracticeSven Amann, Sebastian Proksch, Sarah Nadi, and Mira Mezini

Technische Universität Darmstadt Germany

RQ1How does the average

developer spend his in-IDE time?

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RQ2How does IDE usage differ between IDEs?

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Murphy et al.

Beller et al.

Minelli et al.

Amann et al.

Tracking IDE Usage

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clicks

shortcutstyping

windows & documents

screen lock

mouse moves

5570 downloads

pilot phase (2 months)

main study phase (4 months)

5,021h

1,255h

588

2,009h

3.505.858

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Interactions Activities

from to

8

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NavigationCode Edit & Execution IDE Configuration

Project Management Building Other

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10

?

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Outside IDE

Away

In-IDE Inactivity

Away5 min

Short Inactivity

Long Inactivity

The Average

Developer

Outside IDE (39.8%)

Long Inactivity (20.2%)

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Active IDE Interaction

(25%)

Short Inactivity

(15%)

Developers have many very short inactivities and a few long, break-like inactivities.

Developers spend much time outside the IDE, potentially

using external tools.

Active IDE Interaction

(25%)

Short Inactivity

(15%)

Active IDE Interaction

(62.4%)

Short Inactivity (37.6%)

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Kersten et al.

~2h

Minelli et al.

66%

Active IDE Interaction

(25%)

Short Inactivity

(15%)

Short Inactivity (37.6%)

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22.4%

The amount of navigation is a likely indicator for the need

for code understanding

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We observe interesting, unexpected developer

behavior.

Some usage aspects differ significantly across

IDEs.

Consider and look into the causes of our findings when building next-generation IDEs!

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Thanks for you attention.

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Questions?