Useful, But Usable? Factors Affecting the Usability of APIs

Author

Zibran, Minhaz F. ; Eishita, Farjana Z. ; Roy, Chanchal K.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Comput. Sci., Univ. of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

fYear

2011

fDate

17-20 Oct. 2011

Firstpage

151

Lastpage

155

Abstract

Software development today has been largely dependent on the use of API libraries, frameworks, and reusable components. However, the API usability issues often increase the development cost (e.g., time, effort) and lower code quality. In this regard, we study 1,513 bug-posts across five different bug repositories, using both qualitative and quantitative analysis. We identify the API usability issues that are reflected in the bug-posts from the API users, and distinguish relative significance of the usability factors. Moreover, from the lessons learned by manual investigation of the bug-posts, we provide further insight into the most frequent API usability issues.

Keywords

application program interfaces; program debugging; software cost estimation; software libraries; software reusability; API library; API usability; bug post; bug repository; lower code quality; qualitative analysis; quantitative analysis; reusable components; software development; Complexity theory; Documentation; Libraries; Memory management; Open source software; Production facilities; Usability; API; Application Programming Interface; Usability;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Reverse Engineering (WCRE), 2011 18th Working Conference on

Conference_Location

Limerick

ISSN

1095-1350

Print_ISBN

978-1-4577-1948-6

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/WCRE.2011.26

Filename

6079520