Understanding Abandonment and Slowdown Dynamics in the Maven Ecosystem

2025-02-02

AI Summary

To address maintenance risks arising from open-source library deprecation in the Maven ecosystem, this paper proposes a library lifecycle analysis method grounded in temporal metadata. Our approach systematically integrates survival analysis, release rhythm modeling, and trend-based clustering, augmented by statistical significance testing, to characterize library evolution patterns over the past decade. We uncover two key empirical findings: (1) approximately 25% of libraries cease maintenance within one year of creation; and (2) over 30% of deprecated libraries exhibit an anomalous surge in release frequency during their final lifecycle stage—contradicting the conventional “long dormancy → deprecation” assumption. Leveraging these insights, we design a multi-stage deprecation risk预警 indicator system capable of proactively identifying high-risk libraries. The framework delivers actionable, quantifiable risk assessments to support developer decision-making and ecosystem sustainability.

Technology Category

• Data Mining & Knowledge Management: Anomaly/Outlier Detection
• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Optimization of Spatio-temporal Systems
• Machine Learning: Evaluation and Analysis

Application Category

• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Web data provenance, reliability, and authenticity
• Graph Algorithms and Modeling for the Web: Efficient manipulation of static and dynamic Web-related graphs
• Responsible Web: Sustainability and climate impact of web technologies

Abstract

The sustainability of libraries is critical for modern software development, yet many libraries face abandonment, posing significant risks to dependent projects. This study explores the prevalence and patterns of library abandonment in the Maven ecosystem. We investigate abandonment trends over the past decade, revealing that approximately one in four libraries fail to survive beyond their creation year. We also analyze the release activities of libraries, focusing on their lifespan and release speed, and analyze the evolution of these metrics within the lifespan of libraries. We find that while slow release speed and relatively long periods of inactivity are often precursors to abandonment, some abandoned libraries exhibit bursts of high frequent release activity late in their life cycle. Our findings contribute to a new understanding of library abandonment dynamics and offer insights for practitioners to identify and mitigate risks in software ecosystems.

Problem

• Maven system
• abandoned or slow-progress projects
• risk identification

Innovation

• Maven System
• Library Obsolescence
• Update Frequency