Leveraging pre-commit hooks for context-sensitive checklists: a case study

Abstract

The need to increase the efficiency of software development creates a demand for unobtrusive in-process means of software quality assurance that align well with agile processes. Many version control system clients provide facilities for running scripts or other executables before a change is committed to the repository. These ”pre-commit hooks” can be client-side or server-side, both having distinct advantages. Client-side pre-commit hooks are well suited to implement context-sensitive checklists and automatic quality checks, but their potential has not been fully realized in practice and corresponding research is missing. To narrow this gap, we did an industrial case study on this use of client-side pre-commit hooks. The case study used the tool ”TortoiseChecklist” and was focused on increasing continuous integration build stability. The results were positive, with a notable increase in stability and no significant disadvantages noticed.