1.
A Study of
Visual Studio Usage
in Practice
Sven Amann, Sebastian Proksch, Sarah Nadi, and Mira Mezini
Technische Universität Darmstadt
Germany

2.
RQ1
How does the average
developer spend his in-IDE time?
2
RQ2
How does IDE usage
differ between IDEs?

3.
3
Murphy et al.
Beller et al.
Minelli et al.
Amann et al.

4.
Tracking
IDE Usage

5.
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clicks
shortcuts
typing
windows &
documents
screen lock
mouse
moves
5570 downloads

6.
pilot phase
(2 months)
main study phase
(4 months)
5,021h
1,255h
588
2,009h
3.505.858
6

7.
Interactions
Activities
from
to

8.
8

9.
9
Navigation
Code Edit
& Execution
IDE Configuration
Project Management Building Other
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10.
10
?

11.
11
Outside IDE
Away
In-IDE
Inactivity
Away
5 min
Short
Inactivity
Long
Inactivity

12.
The
Average
Developer

13.
Outside IDE
(39.8%)
Long
Inactivity
(20.2%)
13
Active IDE
Interaction
(25%)
Short
Inactivity
(15%)
Developers have many very short inactivities
and a few long, break-like inactivities.
Developers spend
much time outside
the IDE, potentially
using external tools.

14.
Active IDE
Interaction
(25%)
Short
Inactivity
(15%)
Active IDE
Interaction
(62.4%)
Short
Inactivity
(37.6%)
14
Kersten et al.
~2h
Minelli et al.
66%

15.
Active IDE
Interaction
(25%)
Short
Inactivity
(15%)
Short
Inactivity
(37.6%)
15
22.4%
The amount of navigation is
a likely indicator for the need
for code understanding

16.
16
We observe interesting,
unexpected developer
behavior.
Some usage aspects
differ significantly across
IDEs.
Consider and look into the causes of our
findings when building next-generation IDEs!

17.
17
Thanks for you attention.
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Questions?