RefactorInsight: Enhancing IDE Representation of Changes in Git with Refactorings Information (2108.11202v1)

Abstract: Inspection of code changes is a time-consuming task that constitutes a big part of everyday work of software engineers. Existing IDEs provide little information about the semantics of code changes within the file editor view. Therefore developers have to track changes across multiple files, which is a hard task with large codebases. In this paper, we present RefactorInsight, a plugin for IntelliJ IDEA that introduces a smart diff for code changes in Java and Kotlin where refactorings are auto-folded and provided with their description, thus allowing users to focus on changes that modify the code behavior like bug fixes and new features. RefactorInsight supports three usage scenarios: viewing smart diffs with auto-folded refactorings and hints, inspecting refactorings in pull requests and in any specific commit in the project change history, and exploring the refactoring history of methods and classes. The evaluation shows that commit processing time is acceptable: on median it is less than 0.2 seconds, which delay does not disrupt developers' IDE workflows. RefactorInsight is available at https://github.com/JetBrains-Research/RefactorInsight. The demonstration video is available at https://youtu.be/-6L2AKQ66nA.

Enhancing IDE Representation of Changes in Git with Refactorings Information

The paper under review presents a plugin for IntelliJ IDEA aimed at improving the way Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) represent code changes tracked by Git, specifically by incorporating refactorings information. The research highlights the inefficiencies faced by software engineers due to the inadequacy of existing IDEs in conveying the semantics of code changes directly within the file editor view, especially in large codebases. The proposed plugin seeks to streamline the process by providing a structured summary of changes, which maintains a focus on behavior-modifying changes, such as bug fixes and new feature implementations, by auto-folding refactoring modifications and adding descriptive hints.

Key Features of the Plugin

1. Smart Diff and Auto-Folding: The plugin integrates a smart diff feature that auto-folds refactoring changes in Java and Kotlin, allowing developers to better focus on other critical code modifications. This implementation promises efficiency in code review by condensing the view and providing descriptive hints about refactorings.
2. Usage Scenarios: The plugin supports several scenarios including viewing diffs with auto-folded refactorings, examining refactorings across commits and pull requests, and exploring historical refactoring data for specific methods and classes.
3. Refactoring Detection: The tool leverages RefactoringMiner for Java and an extended tool, kotlinRMiner, for Kotlin to detect a wide range of refactoring types, thereby enhancing the extensiveness and accuracy of refactoring detection.
4. IDE Integration: The plugin integrates seamlessly with the IntelliJ IDEA by augmenting the existing diff window with extra functionality, keeping user experience intact while providing enhanced information about code modifications.
5. Performance Metrics: The evaluation indicates that the median processing time per commit is within 0.2 seconds, suggesting that the plugin is effective without causing significant delays in the development workflow.

Implications and Future Work

The implications of incorporating refactoring insights into IDE diff views are substantial. This tool potentially reduces cognitive load for developers by filtering out non-behavior-affecting changes, thus streamlining code review processes. It provides a focused view on changes that are crucial from a functionality standpoint.

This research could pave the way for more intelligent IDE tools, enhancing the capabilities of code editors towards comprehensive semantic understanding. Future developments could involve user studies to evaluate the practical utility of the plugin in real-world environments and further expansion of kotlinRMiner to support additional refactoring types, as well as the accumulation of a dataset to bolster its evaluation.

In conclusion, while the plugin does not claim to revolutionize IDE functionalities, it effectively addresses the gap in current IDE tools by integrating semantic change awareness into code inspection processes, catering to the nuanced needs of developers handling extensive project histories. This work provides a solid foundation for further extensions and improvements that could transform code review processes in development environments.