Researchers Test Developer Biometrics To Predict Buggy Code

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday July 22, 2014 @06:55AM from the subject-was-asleep-when-this-code-was-checked-in dept.

rjmarvin writes: Microsoft Research is testing a new method for predicting errors and bugs while developers write code: biometrics. By measuring a developer's eye movements, physical and mental characteristics as they code, the researchers tracked alertness and stress levels to predict the difficulty of a given task with respect to the coder's abilities. In a paper entitled "Using Psycho-Physiological Measures to Assess Task Difficulty in Software Development," the researchers summarized how they strapped an eye tracker, an electrodermal sensor and an EEG sensor to 15 developers as they programmed for various tasks. Biometrics predicted task difficulty for a new developer 64.99% of the time. For a subsequent tasks with the same developer, the researchers found biometrics to be 84.38% accurate. They suggest using the information to mark places in code that developers find particularly difficult, and then reviewing or refactoring those sections later.

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who the hell wrote this crap?!! by Thud457 · 2014-07-22 07:45 · Score: 5, Funny

well duh, that vein on my forehead starts to throb and my eye starts to twitch when I read dumb code.

oh wait, that was my commit

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the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Re:64.99%, 84.38%, Really? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-22 08:26 · Score: 4, Funny

I think it the extra bogus precision has something to do with the conversion between Imperial and Metric developers.
(Oh, and something something dark side.)