Assessment of software defect detection efficiency and cost through an intelligent collaborative virtual environment

The use of collaborative virtual environments facilitates communication, coordination and cooperation within a group of people. In the field of information and communications technology (ICT), collaborative virtual environments have been developed to support the learning of programming. In this work, we report an empirical study (controlled experiment) which assess the efficiency and cost of detecting defects in instrumented programs with and without the support of an intelligent collaborative virtual environment (ICVE). The ICVE was used as part of a programming course at undergraduate level. The results suggest an equivalent efficiency in defect detection for both types of participants, those who used the ICVE (3.76 observed defects per hour) and those who worked in a traditional manner (4.07 observed defects per hour). With regard to cost, it was observed that participants who used the ICVE completed the activities within a slightly shorter time frame (49.25 minutes) than those who worked without the environment (52.90 minutes); however, the difference was not significant. It was observed that with regard to efficiency and cost, for this type of task (the detection of defects), working virtually through an ICVE versus working ad hoc (in a tradition manner, at the same time and in the same place) yields equivalent results. When collaborative work cannot be done in a traditional way, the use an ICVE is an alternative approach equally effective.