A Preliminary Interview Study on Developers’ Perceptions of Code Smell Detection in Industry

This paper presents a preliminary interview study aimed to understand i) how practitioners perceive code smells and ii) whether/why developers use code smell detection tools. We carefully designed an structured interview protocol composed of six major questions. We interviewed seven developers, recruited by convenience, who work for major companies worldwide on software maintenance and evolution. We followed strict guidelines for thematic synthesis to analyze the interview texts. The perception of interviewees on code smells is in line with the traditional definition, even when developers lack academic formation. All interviewees were concerned with adding code smells while they produce code, although a half of them feel that their pairs do not share these concerns. Most interviewees use detection tools, but costs with tool setup and company culture may prevent developers from using them.