I3DE: An IDE for Inspecting Inconsistencies in PL/SQL Code

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce I3DE (Inconsistency Inspecting IDE) - an IDE plugin to inspect inconsistencies in PL/SQL code. We first observed the potential issues, e.g., misuses or bugs, that are introduced by the inconsistent understanding of PL/SQL semantics by PL/SQL programmers and DBMS developers, and propose a metamorphic testing-based approach for inspecting such inconsistencies in PL/SQL code. We design and implement our approach in I3DE, a widely usable plugin for the IntelliJ Platform. We conducted a comparative user study involving 16 participants, and the findings indicate that I3DE is consistently effective and efficient in helping programmers identify and avoid inconsistencies across different programming difficulties