Can We Spot Energy Regressions using Developers Tests?

TL;DR

This paper explores the feasibility of using developers' tests within Continuous Integration to detect energy regressions in software, aiming to develop automated tools for SEC monitoring and improvement.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of energy regression testing using developers' tests and investigates its potential for detecting SEC regressions in CI environments.

Findings

Developers' tests can provide stable SEC indicators.

SEC comparisons between versions can identify energy regressions.

Potential to pinpoint source code lines responsible for regressions.

Abstract

Software Energy Consumption(SEC) is gaining more and more attention. In this paper, we tackle the problem of hinting developers about the SEC of their programs in the context of software developments based on Continuous Integration(CI). In this study, we investigate if the CI can leverage developers' tests to perform a new class of tests: the energy regression testing. Energy regression is similar to performance regression but focused on the energy consumption of the program instead of standard performance indicators, like execution time or memory consumption. We propose to perform an exploratory study of the usage of developers' tests for energy regression testing. We propose to first investigate if developers' tests can be used to obtain stable SEC indicators. Then, to consider if comparing the SEC of developers' tests between two versions can accurately spot energy regressions introduced by automated program mutations. Finally, to assess if it can successfully pinpoint the source code lines guilty of energy regressions. Our study will pave the way for automated SEC regression tools that can be readily deployed inside an existing CI infrastructure to raise awareness of SEC issues among practitioners.