Toward Neurosymbolic Program Comprehension

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Velasco, Alejandro, Garryyeva, Aya, Palacio, David N., Mastropaolo, Antonio, Poshyvanyk, Denys
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Velasco, Alejandro
Garryyeva, Aya
Palacio, David N.
Mastropaolo, Antonio
Poshyvanyk, Denys
author_facet Velasco, Alejandro
Garryyeva, Aya
Palacio, David N.
Mastropaolo, Antonio
Poshyvanyk, Denys
contents Recent advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs) have paved the way for Large Code Models (LCMs), enabling automation in complex software engineering tasks, such as code generation, software testing, and program comprehension, among others. Tools like GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT have shown substantial benefits in supporting developers across various practices. However, the ambition to scale these models to trillion-parameter sizes, exemplified by GPT-4, poses significant challenges that limit the usage of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based systems powered by large Deep Learning (DL) models. These include rising computational demands for training and deployment and issues related to trustworthiness, bias, and interpretability. Such factors can make managing these models impractical for many organizations, while their "black-box'' nature undermines key aspects, including transparency and accountability. In this paper, we question the prevailing assumption that increasing model parameters is always the optimal path forward, provided there is sufficient new data to learn additional patterns. In particular, we advocate for a Neurosymbolic research direction that combines the strengths of existing DL techniques (e.g., LLMs) with traditional symbolic methods--renowned for their reliability, speed, and determinism. To this end, we outline the core features and present preliminary results for our envisioned approach, aimed at establishing the first Neurosymbolic Program Comprehension (NsPC) framework to aid in identifying defective code components.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_01806
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Toward Neurosymbolic Program Comprehension
Velasco, Alejandro
Garryyeva, Aya
Palacio, David N.
Mastropaolo, Antonio
Poshyvanyk, Denys
Software Engineering
Artificial Intelligence
Recent advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs) have paved the way for Large Code Models (LCMs), enabling automation in complex software engineering tasks, such as code generation, software testing, and program comprehension, among others. Tools like GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT have shown substantial benefits in supporting developers across various practices. However, the ambition to scale these models to trillion-parameter sizes, exemplified by GPT-4, poses significant challenges that limit the usage of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based systems powered by large Deep Learning (DL) models. These include rising computational demands for training and deployment and issues related to trustworthiness, bias, and interpretability. Such factors can make managing these models impractical for many organizations, while their "black-box'' nature undermines key aspects, including transparency and accountability. In this paper, we question the prevailing assumption that increasing model parameters is always the optimal path forward, provided there is sufficient new data to learn additional patterns. In particular, we advocate for a Neurosymbolic research direction that combines the strengths of existing DL techniques (e.g., LLMs) with traditional symbolic methods--renowned for their reliability, speed, and determinism. To this end, we outline the core features and present preliminary results for our envisioned approach, aimed at establishing the first Neurosymbolic Program Comprehension (NsPC) framework to aid in identifying defective code components.
title Toward Neurosymbolic Program Comprehension
topic Software Engineering
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.01806