Explainable Software Engineering: From State of the Practice to State of the Art
Zheng Li, Maria Angela Ferrario, Ben Crossey, Austen Rainer · 2025
The evidence-based paradigm has made software engineering (SE) more objective and less imprecise, facilitating extensive decision-making activities in software projects. However, by referring to the four-theory classificatory scheme, it can be observed that evidence-based SE mainly focuses on empirically developing descriptive theories from SE practices, and directly using descriptions to make predictions and suggest prescriptions, without emphasising the establishment and utilisation of explanatory theories for comprehensively understanding SE phenomena. In keeping with the pioneering viewpoint that regards explainability as a first-class citizen of SE in the future, we urge the development of explainable SE as a dedicated research field that pursues the state of the art beyond the state of the practice of SE. To support this forward-looking vision, we have developed an extensible framework, two factorial strategies, and a set of augmented empirical methods as the preliminary responses to two root research questions what to explain and how to explain and one derived research question how to identify proper explanations. As such, although at a vision stage, our current work has paved the way forward towards a more explainable future of SE that will bring various benefits to different stakeholders in the software ecosystem.