A DESIGN SCIENCE TOOL TO IMPROVE CODE MAINTAINABILITY FOR HYPERTEXT PRE-PROCESSOR (PHP) PROGRAMS Grant Trudel livepro Australia, Brisbane,
[email protected] Australia Samuel Sambasivam* Woodbury University, Burbank,
[email protected] CA, USA *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Aim/Purpose A design science tool to improve code maintainability for PHP programs. Background This paper addresses this issue by providing an enhancement to an existing tool that specifically addresses and improves program maintainability for PHP programs. Methodology This paper uses design science research which involves creating or modifying one or more artifacts. In this case, the artifact is PHP Code Sniffer, which was modified to improve code maintainability of PHP programs. Contribution This paper provides a method of improving code maintainability of PHP programs. Findings Code quality in terms of maintainability is a modern-day issue. No tool spe- cifically addresses maintainability. When updating PHP code that has poor maintainability, there is a much higher likelihood that errors will be intro- duced than with code that is more maintainable. Recommendations For PHP developers and project leaders dealing with PHP programs, running for Practitioners the modified PHP Code Sniffer will improve code maintainability. Recommendations Examine ways to improve other code quality aspects such as reliability, secu- for Researchers rity, usability, efficiency, and so on. Impact on Society PHP programs, which run the background processes behind most web pages, will be more robust, reliable, and correct. Future Research Expand this to investigate improving maintainability for other common pro- gramming languages. Accepted by Editor Michael Jones │ Received: December 20, 2020 │ Revised: April 2, 2021 │ Accepted: April 19, 2021.