The unexplored terrain of compiler warnings

G Kudrjavets, A Kumar, N Nagappan… - Proceedings of the 44th …, 2022 - dl.acm.org
Proceedings of the 44th International Conference on Software Engineering …, 2022dl.acm.org
The authors' industry experiences suggest that compiler warnings, a lightweight version of
program analysis, are valuable early bug detection tools. Significant costs are associated
with patches and security bulletins for issues that could have been avoided if compiler
warnings were addressed. Yet, the industry's attitude towards compiler warnings is mixed.
Practices range from silencing all compiler warnings to having a zero-tolerance policy as to
any warnings. Current published data indicates that addressing compiler warnings early is …
The authors' industry experiences suggest that compiler warnings, a lightweight version of program analysis, are valuable early bug detection tools. Significant costs are associated with patches and security bulletins for issues that could have been avoided if compiler warnings were addressed. Yet, the industry's attitude towards compiler warnings is mixed. Practices range from silencing all compiler warnings to having a zero-tolerance policy as to any warnings. Current published data indicates that addressing compiler warnings early is beneficial. However, support for this value theory stems from grey literature or is anecdotal. Additional focused research is needed to truly assess the cost-benefit of addressing warnings.
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