Empirical Software Engineering

Empirical Software Engineering aims at promoting the publication of industry-relevant research since one of its goals is to address the significant gap between research and practice. Over the last decade, it has become clear that empirical studies are a fundamental component of software engineering research and practice: Software development practices and technologies must be investigated by empirical means in order to be understood, evaluated, and deployed in proper contexts. This stems from the observation that higher software quality and productivity is more likely to be achieved if well-understood, tested practices and technologies are introduced in software development. Reported empirical studies usually involve the collection and analysis of data and experience that can be used to characterize, evaluate and reveal relationships between software development deliverables, practices, and technologies. Over time, it is expected that such empirical results will form a body of knowledge leading to widely accepted and well-formed theories.