Why so Slow? A Study of Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Firefox is a widely used open-source web browser worldwide. As the software continues to grow in size and complexity, the big question is how to improve software quality faster.

Previously, we found that one way to improve quality without compromising speed is to assign code reviews to groups rather than individuals [1]. This opens up new questions:

1. Why and how group code reviews improve software quality?
2. How do review practices impact the workload of experts?

Each question is a master’s thesis that will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Marco Castelluccio from Mozilla Foundations.

Skills learned: problem solving, scientific thinking, data science, machine learning, and scientific writing.

Available spots: 2

Referenced literature:

[1] Group versus Individual Review Requests: Tradeoffs in Speed and Quality at Mozilla Firefox. Thesis URL: https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/36294/

[2] Does Code Review Speed Matter for Practitioners?

[3] Nudge: Accelerating Overdue Pull Requests Towards Completion.

[4] Humans Are Not Machines: The Behavioral Impact of Queueing Design on Service Time.

[5] Pooling Queues with Strategic Servers: The Effects of Customer Ownership

Should you be interested in the project, consider sending an email describing your motivation (reading [1] will help), skills you bring, and skills you intend to learn. Further, let me know of any logistical considerations I should take into account.