thesis - Faculty of Information and Communication Technologies ...

Chapter 3. Data Selection Methodology
Process models, development methodology, management reports,
resource allocation charts, project plans and coding standards.
5. Records added and updated on the Defect/Issue tracking system
In our study, we analyse the Software artifacts by building a release
history and use data from other sources to understand and interpret
the evolution of the software system.
3.6.2 Java Software Systems
The common practice in Java open source projects is to package the
Software artifacts as a release consisting of a compiled binary bundle
and a source bundle, both of which are distributed as compressed
archives (typically zip archive files) with a number of different files within
it.
A compiled Java software system comprises of a set of class files, which
are generated by the compiler from the source code. Both Java classes
as well as Java interfaces are represented as class files within the Java
environment. In order to help with distribution and deployment of this
set of class files, the Java development kit provides a utility to create a
Java archive (JAR file) that holds all the class files as well as all related
configuration and supporting data files (including images) in a single
bundle. The JAR file format is used by most contemporary open source
Java projects as the preferred method for distributing the Java software
systems. In our data set all projects used JAR files as their preferred
distribution method. The Java archive files also have the advantage of
being able to integrate into the Java environment with minimal configuration.
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