-
CiteScore
-
Impact Factor
Volume 1, Issue 1, ICCK Journal of Software Engineering
Volume 1, Issue 1, 2025
Submit Manuscript Edit a Special Issue
Article QR Code
Article QR Code
Scan the QR code for reading
Popular articles
ICCK Journal of Software Engineering, Volume 1, Issue 1, 2025: 1-8

Open Access | Editorial | 07 July 2025
Software Engineering in the Era of Intelligence, Security, and Automation
1 Department of Computer Science, Virtual University of Pakistan, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
* Corresponding Author: Shabib Aftab, [email protected]
Received: 04 July 2025, Accepted: 05 July 2025, Published: 07 July 2025  
Abstract
This editorial introduces the ICCK Journal of Software Engineering (JSE) as an academic platform dedicated to advancing research and innovation across the full spectrum of software engineering. The journal aims to create an inclusive and high-quality space for contributions that span from core theoretical foundations to the latest practical advancements, with a strong focus on emerging technologies. Software engineering as a discipline continues to face a wide range of unresolved challenges despite its critical role in shaping the digital world. Limitations in scalability, adaptability, integration of intelligent systems, and the gap between academic research and real-world application still persist. This editorial is dedicated to highlighting these shortcomings, not only to reflect on them but to advocate for renewed focus and innovative strategies that can move the field forward. Key focus areas include AI-assisted development, continuous integration and deployment, secure and ethical software lifecycles, intelligent code generation using large language models, and the adoption of sustainable, human-centered engineering practices. JSE is committed to fostering reproducible, ethical, and impactful research. In outlining the motivation behind the journal, this editorial highlights the urgent challenges facing the field and identifies key thematic domains to be emphasized. We extend a warm invitation to authors, reviewers, and collaborators across academia and industry to engage with this vision. By fostering a rigorous yet collaborative publication environment, the journal aspires to become a vital resource for the broader research and professional community.

Keywords
software engineering
AI-assisted development
secure software lifecycle
ethical software development
intelligent systems

Data Availability Statement
Not applicable.

Funding
This work was supported without any funding.

Conflicts of Interest
The author declares no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval and Consent to Participate
Not applicable.

References
  1. Zheng, Z., Ning, K., Zhong, Q., Chen, J., Chen, W., Guo, L., ...& Wang, Y. (2025). Towards an understanding of large language models in software engineering tasks. Empirical Software Engineering, 30(2), 50.
    [CrossRef]   [Google Scholar]
  2. Hou, X., Zhao, Y., Liu, Y., Yang, Z., Wang, K., Li, L., ...& Wang, H. (2024). Large language models for software engineering: A systematic literature review. ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology, 33(8), 1-79.
    [CrossRef]   [Google Scholar]
  3. Fan, A., Gokkaya, B., Harman, M., Lyubarskiy, M., Sengupta, S., Yoo, S.,& Zhang, J. M. (2023, May). Large language models for software engineering: Survey and open problems. In 2023 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Software Engineering: Future of Software Engineering (ICSE-FoSE) (pp. 31-53). IEEE.
    [CrossRef]   [Google Scholar]
  4. Fan, A., Gokkaya, B., Harman, M., Lyubarskiy, M., Sengupta, S., Yoo, S.,& Zhang, J. M. (2023, May). Large language models for software engineering: Survey and open problems. In 2023 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Software Engineering: Future of Software Engineering (ICSE-FoSE) (pp. 31-53). IEEE.
    [CrossRef]   [Google Scholar]
  5. Yang, J., Jimenez, C. E., Wettig, A., Lieret, K., Yao, S., Narasimhan, K.,& Press, O. (2024). Swe-agent: Agent-computer interfaces enable automated software engineering. Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems, 37, 50528-50652.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Martínez-Fernández, S., Bogner, J., Franch, X., Oriol, M., Siebert, J., Trendowicz, A., ...& Wagner, S. (2022). Software engineering for AI-based systems: a survey. ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology (TOSEM), 31(2), 1-59.
    [CrossRef]   [Google Scholar]
  7. Ahmed, T.,& Devanbu, P. (2022, May). Multilingual training for software engineering. In Proceedings of the 44th International Conference on Software Engineering (pp. 1443-1455).
    [CrossRef]   [Google Scholar]
  8. Mandal, A. K., Nadim, M., Roy, C. K., Roy, B.,& Schneider, K. A. (2025). Quantum software engineering and potential of quantum computing in software engineering research: a review. Automated Software Engineering, 32(1), 27.
    [CrossRef]   [Google Scholar]
  9. Lu, Q., Zhu, L., Xu, X., Whittle, J.,& Xing, Z. (2022, May). Towards a roadmap on software engineering for responsible AI. In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on AI Engineering: software Engineering for AI (pp. 101-112).
    [CrossRef]   [Google Scholar]
  10. Lenberg, P., Feldt, R., Gren, L., Wallgren Tengberg, L. G., Tidefors, I.,& Graziotin, D. (2024). Qualitative software engineering research: Reflections and guidelines. Journal of Software: Evolution and Process, 36(6), e2607.
    [CrossRef]   [Google Scholar]
  11. Verdecchia, R., Engström, E., Lago, P., Runeson, P.,& Song, Q. (2023). Threats to validity in software engineering research: A critical reflection. Information and Software Technology, 164, 107329.
    [CrossRef]   [Google Scholar]
  12. Melnikov, A., Kordzanganeh, M., Alodjants, A.,& Lee, R. K. (2023). Quantum machine learning: from physics to software engineering. Advances in Physics: X, 8(1), 2165452.
    [CrossRef]   [Google Scholar]
  13. Xia, C. S., Deng, Y., Dunn, S.,& Zhang, L. (2024). Agentless: Demystifying llm-based software engineering agents. arXiv preprint arXiv:2407.01489.
    [CrossRef]   [Google Scholar]
  14. Zhang, K., Yao, W., Liu, Z., Feng, Y., Liu, Z., Murthy, R., ...& Xiong, C. (2024). Diversity empowers intelligence: Integrating expertise of software engineering agents. arXiv preprint arXiv:2408.07060.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Von der Mosel, J., Trautsch, A.,& Herbold, S. (2022). On the validity of pre-trained transformers for natural language processing in the software engineering domain. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 49(4), 1487-1507.
    [CrossRef]   [Google Scholar]
  16. Russo, D.,& Stol, K. J. (2021). PLS-SEM for software engineering research: An introduction and survey. ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR), 54(4), 1-38.
    [CrossRef]   [Google Scholar]
  17. Lu, Q., Zhu, L., Xu, X., Whittle, J., Douglas, D.,& Sanderson, C. (2022, May). Software engineering for responsible AI: An empirical study and operationalised patterns. In Proceedings of the 44th International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering in Practice (pp. 241-242).
    [CrossRef]   [Google Scholar]
  18. Zhang, Q., Zhang, T., Zhai, J., Fang, C., Yu, B., Sun, W.,& Chen, Z. (2023). A critical review of large language model on software engineering: An example from chatgpt and automated program repair. arXiv preprint arXiv:2310.08879.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Wohlin, C. (2021). Case Study Research in Software Engineering—It is a Case, and it is a Study, but is it a Case Study?. Information and Software Technology, 133, 106514.
    [CrossRef]   [Google Scholar]
  20. Giray, G. (2021). A software engineering perspective on engineering machine learning systems: State of the art and challenges. Journal of Systems and Software, 180, 111031.
    [CrossRef]   [Google Scholar]
  21. Shin, J., Tang, C., Mohati, T., Nayebi, M., Wang, S.,& Hemmati, H. (2023). Prompt engineering or fine tuning: An empirical assessment of large language models in automated software engineering tasks. arXiv preprint arXiv:2310.10508.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Moreira, A., Lago, P., Heldal, R., Betz, S., Brooks, I., Capilla, R., ...& Venters, C. C. (2025). A roadmap for integrating sustainability into software engineering education. ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology, 34(5), 1-27.
    [CrossRef]   [Google Scholar]
  23. Robillard, M. P., Arya, D. M., Ernst, N. A., Guo, J. L., Lamothe, M., Nassif, M., ...& Stol, K. J. (2024). Communicating study design trade-offs in software engineering. ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology, 33(5), 1-10.
    [CrossRef]   [Google Scholar]
  24. Akdur, D. (2022). Analysis of software engineering skills gap in the industry. ACM Transactions on Computing Education, 23(1), 1-28.
    [CrossRef]   [Google Scholar]
  25. Ahmad, M. O.,& Gustavsson, T. (2024). The Pandora's box of social, process, and people debts in software engineering. Journal of Software: Evolution and Process, 36(2), e2516.
    [CrossRef]   [Google Scholar]

Cite This Article
APA Style
Aftab, S. (2025). Software Engineering in the Era of Intelligence, Security, and Automation. ICCK Journal of Software Engineering, 1(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.62762/JSE.2025.534855

Article Metrics
Citations:

Crossref

0

Scopus

0

Web of Science

0
Article Access Statistics:
Views: 46
PDF Downloads: 50

Publisher's Note
ICCK stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and Permissions
CC BY Copyright © 2025 by the Author(s). Published by Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.
ICCK Journal of Software Engineering

ICCK Journal of Software Engineering

ISSN: request pending (Online) | ISSN: request pending (Print)

Email: [email protected]

Portico

Portico

All published articles are preserved here permanently:
https://www.portico.org/publishers/icck/