GitEvo: Code Evolution Analysis for Git Repositories

Abstract: Analyzing the code evolution of software systems is relevant for practitioners, researchers, and educators. It can help practitioners identify design trends and maintenance challenges, provide researchers with empirical data to study changes over time, and give educators real-world examples that enhance the teaching of software evolution concepts. Unfortunately, we lack tools specifically designed to support code evolution analysis. In this paper, we propose GitEvo, a multi-language and extensible tool for analyzing code evolution in Git repositories. GitEvo leverages Git frameworks and code parsing tools to integrate both Git-level and code-level analysis. We conclude by describing how GitEvo can support the development of novel empirical studies on code evolution and act as a learning tool for educators and students. GitEvo is available at: https://github.com/andrehora/gitevo.