AutoEmpirical: LLM-Based Automated Research for Empirical Software Fault Analysis

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Yu, Jiongchi, Jiang, Weipeng, Zhang, Xiaoyu, Hu, Qiang, Xie, Xiaofei, Shen, Chao
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author Yu, Jiongchi
Jiang, Weipeng
Zhang, Xiaoyu
Hu, Qiang
Xie, Xiaofei
Shen, Chao
author_facet Yu, Jiongchi
Jiang, Weipeng
Zhang, Xiaoyu
Hu, Qiang
Xie, Xiaofei
Shen, Chao
contents Understanding software faults is essential for empirical research in software development and maintenance. However, traditional fault analysis, while valuable, typically involves multiple expert-driven steps such as collecting potential faults, filtering, and manual investigation. These processes are both labor-intensive and time-consuming, creating bottlenecks that hinder large-scale fault studies in complex yet critical software systems and slow the pace of iterative empirical research. In this paper, we decompose the process of empirical software fault study into three key phases: (1) research objective definition, (2) data preparation, and (3) fault analysis, and we conduct an initial exploration study of applying Large Language Models (LLMs) for fault analysis of open-source software. Specifically, we perform the evaluation on 3,829 software faults drawn from a high-quality empirical study. Our results show that LLMs can substantially improve efficiency in fault analysis, with an average processing time of about two hours, compared to the weeks of manual effort typically required. We conclude by outlining a detailed research plan that highlights both the potential of LLMs for advancing empirical fault studies and the open challenges that required be addressed to achieve fully automated, end-to-end software fault analysis.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_04997
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle AutoEmpirical: LLM-Based Automated Research for Empirical Software Fault Analysis
Yu, Jiongchi
Jiang, Weipeng
Zhang, Xiaoyu
Hu, Qiang
Xie, Xiaofei
Shen, Chao
Software Engineering
Artificial Intelligence
Understanding software faults is essential for empirical research in software development and maintenance. However, traditional fault analysis, while valuable, typically involves multiple expert-driven steps such as collecting potential faults, filtering, and manual investigation. These processes are both labor-intensive and time-consuming, creating bottlenecks that hinder large-scale fault studies in complex yet critical software systems and slow the pace of iterative empirical research. In this paper, we decompose the process of empirical software fault study into three key phases: (1) research objective definition, (2) data preparation, and (3) fault analysis, and we conduct an initial exploration study of applying Large Language Models (LLMs) for fault analysis of open-source software. Specifically, we perform the evaluation on 3,829 software faults drawn from a high-quality empirical study. Our results show that LLMs can substantially improve efficiency in fault analysis, with an average processing time of about two hours, compared to the weeks of manual effort typically required. We conclude by outlining a detailed research plan that highlights both the potential of LLMs for advancing empirical fault studies and the open challenges that required be addressed to achieve fully automated, end-to-end software fault analysis.
title AutoEmpirical: LLM-Based Automated Research for Empirical Software Fault Analysis
topic Software Engineering
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.04997