Automating Software Development for Mobile Computing Platforms

Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets have become ubiquitous in today's modern computing landscape. The applications that run on these mobile devices (often referred to as "apps") have become a primary means of computing for millions of users and, as such, have garnered immense developer interest. These apps allow for unique, personal software experiences through touch-based UIs and a complex assortment of sensors. However designing and implementing high quality mobile apps can be a difficult process. This is primarily due to challenges unique to mobile development including change-prone APIs and platform fragmentation, just to name a few. This paper presents the motivation and an overview of a dissertation which presents new approaches for automating and improving mobile app design and development practices. Additionally, this paper discusses potential avenues for future research based upon the work conducted, as well as general lessons learned during the author's tenure as a doctoral student in the general areas of software engineering, maintenance, and evolution.