Exploring Code Samples Characteristics and Their Impacts on Software Ecosystems
Abstract
Code samples are made available to assist developers to accelerate the learning process of features provided by frameworks. However, we know little about how code samples are developed and consumed. In this paper, we aim to fill this gap by assessing the characteristics of framework code samples. We provide insights into how code samples are maintained and used by developers. We find that most code samples are small and simple, and provide a working environment. They frequently change, for example, to adapt to new framework versions. To further understand the problems faced by developers, we analyze Stack Overflow and 269 issues from code sample repositories. We find that developers face problems when modifying the code samples and the most common issue is related to improvement.
