Sustainable Solutions: Green Software Engineering from a Mobile Engineer’s Perspective

The eight standards of green software engineering

After the introduction of eight green software engineering principles, they have been widely accepted as fundamental pillars ensuring software development's sustainability, functionality, and environmental friendliness.

Companies can significantly benefit from adhering to these principles as they provide a framework for creating environmentally responsible software applications. Here is a brief overview of what these principles entail:

1. Carbon – developing carbon-efficient applications reduces the carbon footprint of software development.
2. Electricity – developing energy-efficient applications decreases the electricity required to power them. It also potentially saves money and lowers greenhouse gas emissions.
3. Carbon intensity – prioritising renewable energy sources and increasing energy efficiency minimises carbon and energy waste.
4. Embodied carbon – developing hardware- and network-efficient applications optimise the environmental effect of hardware manufacturing and disposal, as well as network energy use.
5. Energy proportionality – improving hardware energy efficiency reduces energy waste and increases the sustainability of software development.
6. Networking – limiting the amount of data transferred and the distance it travels over the network lowers energy consumption and improves network efficiency.
7. Demand shaping – developing carbon-aware applications raises environmental awareness and encourages sustainable habits.
8. Measurement and optimisation – concentrating on step-by-step improvements that boost overall carbon efficiency helps to identify areas for improvement and encourage continual improvement in software development techniques.

Introducing the ecoCode plugin: the idea and tools at the core

The ecoCode plugin aims to reveal bad code practices, such as poor optimisation and memory leaks. It is compatible with Java 11 and higher and operates on docker. The plugin is already available for Android, iOS, Java, Python, and PHP.

You can check the list of Android/iOS best practices that the ecoCode development team refer to. Here is an extract of the rules for Android:

• Use dark theme on devices.
• Avoid third-party animations in the user interface.
• Use workManager.
• Avoid using Manifest.permission.REQUEST_IGNORE_BATTERY_OPTIMIZATIONS.
• Monitor changes in the charging status of the device using a broadcast receiver registered in the ACTION_POWER_CONNECTED and ACTION_POWER_DISCONNECTED actions.
• Do not use getSystemService(Context.VIBRATOR_SERVICE) unless absolutely necessary to save the battery.
• Check if the low power mode is enabled and adapt the resource usage accordingly.

Here are the rules that have already been brought to Android:

• FusedLocationRule.class,
• BluetoothLowEnergyRule.class,
• KeepScreenOnAddFlagsRule.class,
• KeepScreenOnSetFlagsRule.class,
• BrightnessOverrideRule.class,
• InternetInTheLoopRule.class,
• KeepCpuOnRule.class,
• ThriftyMotionSensorRule.class,
• WifiMulticastLockRule.class,
• LocationLeakRule.class,
• CameraLeakRule.class,
• SensorManagerLeakRule.class,
• DurableWakeLockRule.class,
• MediaLeakMediaRecorderRule.class,
• MediaLeakMediaPlayerRule.class,
• RigidAlarmRule.class,
• ContinuousRenderingRule.class,
• KeepVoiceAwakeRule.class,
• ThriftyBluetoothLowEnergySetAdvertiseModeRule.class,
• ThriftyBluetoothLowEnergyRequestConnectionPriorityRule.class,
• ThriftyGeolocationMinTimeRule.class,
• ThriftyGeolocationMinDistanceRule.class,
• ChargeAwarenessRule.class,
• VibrationFreeRule.class,
• TorchFreeRule.class,
• ThriftyNotificationRule.class,
• UncompressedDataTransmissionRule.class,
• SensorCoalesceRule.class,
• JobCoalesceRule.class,
• SaveModeAwarenessRule.class,
• ThriftyGeolocationCriteriaRule.class,
• HighFrameRateRule.class

There are more rules registered in the candidate rules list and not implemented yet.

Putting the ecoCode to test: insights from ELEKS’ project

At ELEKS, we decided to put the ecoCode plugin to the test on one of our projects.

• 7 issues with the use of a light theme in themes.xml which can affect power consumption on smartphones.
• 4 issues with <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WAKE_LOCK" /> turning on the screen that drains the battery.
• 1 issue regarding the use of Firebase Analytics which may be a threat to privacy.
• 10 notifications-related comments from Cordova.

Based on our experience with ecoCode, we can say that ecoCode is at the initial stage of development and still requires fine-tuning and expanding the code analysis rules. But from the results we received, you can already see what goals it sets for itself.

Key takeaways

As the world strives to become more sustainable, green software engineering is emerging as a key player in developing solutions with minimal ecological footprints.

Companies have several options to ensure a greener solution, including taking actionable steps such as optimising code, integrating energy-efficient libraries, implementing power-saving features, etc.

Following eight green software engineering standards can also help establish a framework for environmentally responsible software development. Additionally, companies can opt for external tools that help ensure the code's eco-friendliness. Our investigation has shown that even though the ecoCode plugin is still in its early stages of development, it has the potential to help develop more sustainable applications.