About me

I am currently a full professor in the Software Institute at Nanjing University. My main research interests include intelligent software systems, programming languages, and program analysis.

Our research group is actively recruiting PhD, Master’s, and undergraduate students. If you are interested in programming languages, program analysis, software testing and debugging, feel free to contact me at lchen@nju.edu.cn.

★ 欢迎对程序设计语言、软件分析测试、智能软件系统等课题感兴趣的同学联系我！

    * 2027年入学，硕士生2-3名（推免）。

    * 2027年入学，博士生1名（申请考核）。

    * 本科生入组，欢迎随时申请。

Teaching 

    * Compiler Principles and Techniques: 2011 ~   

    * Algorithm Design and Analysis: 2025 ~ 

    * Software Requirement Engineering: 2016 ~ 2023 

    * Software Analysis and Testing: 2014 ~ 2018

    * Introduction to Software Maintenance and Evolution: 2020 ~ 2023

Research

My research interests include 

    * Programming Languages

    * Program Analysis

    * Software Evolution and Refactoring

    * Software Testing and Debugging

Recent Publications

[TSE] Zhifei Chen, Yuyong Liu, Lin Chen, Yimeng Guo, Yang Yang: "Enhancing Test Code Update for Synchronizing with Production Code Changes: A Knowledge-assisted Learning-based Technique". IEEE Trans. Software Eng. 2026

[SCP] Shengjie Xia, Yijie Ou, Chenghao Su, Yimeng Guo, Yanhui Li, Lin Chen*: "From C to verifiable Rust: Towards practical migration of code and specifications." Science of Computer Programming (2026): 103535.

[SCP] Mingliang Ma, Yanhui Li, Jun Wang, Lin Chen, Yuming Zhou: "MutDBD: Mutation-based training set diagnosis for backdoor defense in deep neural networks." Science of Computer Programming (2026): 103476.

[SCP] Wenjie Xu, Yanhui Li, Mingliang Ma, Lin Chen, Yuming Zhou: "Revealing unseen differences: A change metric perspective on deep learning software lifecycle for fine-tuning data debugging." Science of Computer Programming (2026): 103471.

[JSS] Yijie Ou, Chenghao Su, Lin Chen*, Yanhui Li, Yuming Zhou: "Binding of C++ and JavaScript through automated glue code generation." Journal of Systems and Software (2025): 112565.

[JSEP] Zhifei Chen, Chiheng Jia, Yanhui Li, Lin Chen*:  "Using Dynamic and Static Techniques to Establish Traceability Links Between Production Code and Test Code on Python Projects: A Replication Study." Journal of Software: Evolution and Process 37.3 (2025): e70011.

[IST] Jiali Liang, Lin Chen*, Xiangyu Zhang, Yanhui Li, Yuming Zhou: "ProSpec: Profile-guided Specialization for GPU Kernels." Information and Software Technology (2025): 107901.

[TSE] Jun Wang, Chenghao Su, Yijie Ou, Yanhui Li, Jialiang Tan, Lin Chen*, and Yuming Zhou: "Translating to a Low-resource Language with Compiler Feedback: A Case Study on Cangjie". IEEE Trans. Software Eng. 2025

[TOSEM] Linghan Meng, Yanhui Li, Lin Chen, Mingliang Ma, Yuming Zhou, Baowen Xu: "Less is More: Feature Engineering for Fairness and Performance of Machine Learning Software". ACM Trans. Softw. Eng. Methodol. 2025. 

[TOSEM] Zeyu Lu, Yang Wang, Yi Rong, Yifan Huang, Xuan Wang, Peng Zhang, Shan Gao, Maolin Sun, Yibiao Yang, Yanhui Li, Lin Chen, Yuming Zhou: "Understanding the potentially confounding effect of test suite size in test effectiveness evaluation". ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology. 2025 

[TSE] Yuyong Liu, Zhifei Chen, Lin Chen, Yanhui Li, Xuansong Li, Wei Song: "COTE: Predicting Code-to-Test Co-Evolution by Integrating Link Analysis and Pre-Trained Language Model Techniques". IEEE Trans. Software Eng. 2025. 

[TSE] Yimeng Guo, Zhifei Chen, Lu Xiao, Lin Chen*, Yanhui Li, Yuming Zhou: "Understanding and Identifying Technical Debt in the Co-Evolution of Production and Test Code". IEEE Trans. Software Eng. 2025. 

[TOSEM] Wenjie Xu, Yanhui Li, Mingliang Ma, Lin Chen, Yuming Zhou: "Weighted Suspiciousness and Balanced Aggregation to Boost Spectrum-based Fault Localization of Deep Learning Models". ACM Trans. Softw. Eng. Methodol. 2025. 

[TSE] Ju Qian, Guizhou Lv, Yiming Jin, Zhengyu Shang, Shuoyan Yan, Yan Wang, Lin Chen: "Robotic Visual GUI Testing for Truly Non-Intrusive Test Automation of Touch Screen Applications". IEEE Trans. Software Eng. 2025. 

[ICSE 2025] Shiyu Sun, Yanhui Li, Lin Chen, Yuming Zhou, Jianhua Zhao: "Boosting Code-line-level Defect Prediction with Spectrum Information and Causality Analysis". ICSE 2025

[ICSE 2024] Jun Wang, Yanhui Li, Zhifei Chen, Lin Chen, Xiaofang Zhang, Yuming Zhou: "Knowledge Graph Driven Inference Testing for Question Answering Software". The 46th International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE 2024). 

[TOSEM] Zhifei Chen, Lin Chen*, Yibiao Yang, Qiong Feng, Xuansong Li, Wei Song: "Risky Dynamic Typing-related Practices in Python: An Empirical Study". ACM Trans. Softw. Eng. Methodol. 2024. 

[TOSEM] Peng Zhang, Yang Wang, Xutong Liu, Zeyu Lu, Yibiao Yang, Yanhui Li, Lin Chen, Ziyuan Wang, Chang-ai Sun, Xiao Yu, Yuming Zhou: "Assessing effectiveness of test suites: what do we know and what should we do?". ACM Trans. Softw. Eng. Methodol. 2024. 

[TOSEM] Yimeng Guo, Zhifei Chen, Lin Chen*, Wenjie Xu, Yanhui Li, Yuming Zhou, Baowen Xu: "Generating Python Type Annotations from Type Inference: How Far Are We?". ACM Trans. Softw. Eng. Methodol. 2024. 

[JFP] Chenghao Su, Lin Chen*, Yanhui Li, Yuming Zhou: "Static Blame for Gradual Typing". Journal of Functional Programming. 2024. 

[ISSTA 2023] Jun Wang, Yanhui Li, Xiang Huang, Lin Chen, Xiaofang Zhang, Yuming Zhou: "Back Deduction based Testing for Word Sense Disambiguation Ability of Machine Translation Systems". The 32nd ACM SIGSOFT International Symposium on Software Testing and Analysis (ISSTA 2023). 

[TSE] Shiran Liu, Zhaoqiang Guo, Yanhui Li, Chuanqi Wang, Lin Chen, Zhongbin Sun, Yuming Zhou, Baowen Xu: "Inconsistent defect labels: essence, causes, and influence". IEEE Trans. Software Eng. 49(2): 586-610 (2023). 

[TSE] Yulu Cao, Lin Chen*, Wanwangying Ma, Yanhui Li, Yuming Zhou, Linzhang Wang: "Towards Better Dependency Management: A First Look at Dependency Smells in Python Projects". IEEE Trans. Software Eng. 49(4): 1741-1765 (2023). 

[TSE] Xiaowei Zhang, Weiqin Zou*, Lin Chen*, Yanhui Li, Yuming Zhou: "Towards the analysis and completion of syntactic structure ellipsis for inline comments". IEEE Trans. Software Eng. 49(4): 2285-2302 (2023). 

[TOSEM] Zhaoqiang Guo, Shiran Liu, Xutong Liu, Wei Lai, Mingliang Ma, Xu Zhang, Chao Ni, Yibiao Yang, Yanhui Li, Lin Chen, Guoqiang Zhou, Yuming Zhou: "Code-line-level bugginess identification: How far have we come, and how far have we yet to go?". ACM Trans. Softw. Eng. Methodol. 32, 4, Article 102 (July 2023), 55 pages. 

[TSE] Zhaoqiang Guo, Tingting Tan, Shiran Liu, Xutong Liu, Wei Lai, Yibiao Yang, Yanhui Li, Lin Chen, Wei Dong, Yuming Zhou: "Mitigating False Positive Static Analysis Warnings: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities". IEEE Trans. Software Eng. 49(12): 5154-5188 (2023) 

Service

★ Reviewing journals: IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering (TSE), ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology (TOSEM), Information and Software Technology (IST), Journal of Software: Evolution and Process (JSEP), Journal of Systems and Software (JSS), Frontiers of Computer Science (FCS), Journal of Computer Science and Technology (JCST), Science China: Information Sciences (SCIS), ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR), Automated Software Engineering (ASE), Journal of Systems Architecture (JSA), IET Software

★ Program Committee/Review: FSE 2027/2024, ICSME 2026, SANER 2025/2023 (ERA), AST 2023, AITest 2023/2022/20212020, ChinaSoft 2025