Genetic Programming in Software Engineering: A Systematic Literature Review

Software Engineering is present in all the Software Development Life Cycle phases, implying a systematic and disciplined development process. Nowadays, there are optimization problems within the phases and activities of Software Engineering, problems in which a Genetic Programming (GP) approach can give better results due to its representation of individuals. This Systematic Literature Review aims to analyze the current state of the application of GP in Software Engineering by collecting the phases and activities of software development where Genetic Programming has been used and summarizing the advantages of using this technique. The results show that GP has been used in every phase of software development, although mainly in the construction phase. In addition, a promising area is Program Synthesis, which substantially impacts new fields such as Genetic Improvement.