Exploring the Effects of Urgency and Reputation in Code Review: An Eye-Tracking Study
Sara Yabesi, Mahta Amini, Jelena Ristic, Zohreh Sharafi · 2024
The Pull-Based development model, a fundamental mechanism of collaboration in modern software engineering (SE), initiates the code review process when a contributor submits pull requests (PRs) for evaluation. Although the decision to approve or decline PRs is often perceived as grounded in their technical quality, prior research presents a more intricate narrative where both non technical factors-beyond the code itself and technical factors influence the acceptance. This study, uniquely integrating cues of urgency (represented by code priority level) and reputation (represented by the experience level of the code's author), delves into these biases, leveraging eye-tracking technology to illuminate the cognitive processes underpinning the evaluation of PRs.