A Review on Software Bug Localization Techniques using a Motivational Example

Software bug localization is an essential step within the software maintenance activity, consuming about 70% of the time and cost of the software development life cycle. Therefore, the need to enhance the automation process of software bug localization is important. This paper surveys various software bug localization techniques. Furthermore, a running motivational example is utilized throughout the paper. Such motivational example illustrates the surveyed bug localization techniques, while highlighting their pros and cons. The motivational example utilizes different software artifacts that get created throughout the software development lifecycle, and sheds light on those software artifacts that remain poorly utilized within existing bug localization techniques, regardless of the rich wealth of knowledge embedded within them. This research thus presents guidance on what artifacts should future bug localization techniques focus, to enhance the accuracy of bug localization, and speedup the software maintenance process.