An Exploratory Study on Architectural Knowledge in Issue Tracking Systems

Abstract: Software developers use issue trackers (e.g. Jira) to manage defects, bugs, tasks, change requests, etc. In this paper we explore (a) how architectural knowledge concepts (e.g. architectural component behavior, contextual constraints) are textually represented in issues (e.g. as adjectives), (b) which architectural knowledge concepts commonly occur in issues, and (c) which architectural knowledge concepts appear together. We analyzed issues in the Jira issue trackers of three large Apache projects. To identify ``architecturally relevant'' issues, we linked issues to architecturally relevant source code changes in the studied systems. We then developed a code book by manually labeling a subset of issues. After reaching conceptual saturation, we coded remaining issues. Our findings support empirically-grounded search tools to identify architectural knowledge concepts in issues for future reuse.