Every software system undergoes changes, for example, to add new features, fix bugs, or refactor code. The importance of understanding software changes has been widely recognized, resulting in various techniques and studies, for instance, on change-impact analysis or classifying developers’ activities. Since changes are triggered by developers’ intentions—something they plan or want to change in the system, many researchers have studied intentions behind changes. While there appears to be a consensus among software-engineering researchers and practitioners that knowing the intentions behind software changes is important, it is not clear how developers can actually benefit from this knowledge. In fact, there is no consolidated, recent overview of the state-of-the-art on software-change intentions (SCIs) and their relevance for software engineering. We present a meta-study of 122 publications, which we used to derive a categorization of SCIs; and to discuss motivations, evidence, and techniques relating to SCIs. Unfortunately, we found that individual pieces of research are often disconnected from each other because a common understanding is missing. Similarly, some publications showcase the potential of knowing SCIs, but more substantial research to understand the practical benefits of knowing SCIs is needed. Our contributions can help researchers and practitioners improve their understanding of SCIs and how SCIs can aid software engineering tasks.

每个软件系统都会经历更改，例如添加新功能、修复错误或重构代码。理解软件变更的重要性已得到广泛认可，从而产生了各种技术和研究，例如变更影响分析或对开发人员活动进行分类。由于变更是由开发人员的意图（他们计划或想要在系统中更改的东西）触发的，因此许多研究人员研究了变更背后的意图。虽然软件工程研究人员和从业者似乎一致认为了解软件变更背后的意图很重要，但尚不清楚开发人员如何真正从这些知识中受益。事实上，目前还没有关于软件变更意图 (SCI) 的最新技术及其与软件工程的相关性的综合概述。我们对 122 篇出版物进行了荟萃研究，并用它来对 SCI 进行分类；并讨论与 SCI 相关的动机、证据和技术。不幸的是，我们发现各个研究项目常常相互脱节，因为缺乏共识。同样，一些出版物展示了了解 SCI 的潜力，但需要进行更多实质性研究来了解了解 SCI 的实际好处。我们的贡献可以帮助研究人员和从业者提高对 SCI 以及 SCI 如何帮助软件工程任务的理解。