| 1. |
- Klunder, J., et al.
(författare)
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Catching up with Method and Process Practice: An Industry-Informed Baseline for Researchers
- 2019
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Ingår i: IEEE/ACM 41st International Conference on Software Engineering, 25-31 May 2019: Software Engineering in Practice (ICSE-SEIP). - : IEEE. - 9781728117607
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Software development methods are usually not applied by the book. Companies are under pressure to continuously deploy software products that meet market needs and stakeholders' requests. To implement efficient and effective development processes, companies utilize multiple frameworks, methods and practices, and combine these into hybrid methods. A common combination contains a rich management framework to organize and steer projects complemented with a number of smaller practices providing the development teams with tools to complete their tasks. In this paper, based on 732 data points collected through an international survey, we study the software development process use in practice. Our results show that 76.8% of the companies implement hybrid methods. Company size as well as the strategy in devising and evolving hybrid methods affect the suitability of the chosen process to reach company or project goals. Our findings show that companies that combine planned improvement programs with process evolution can increase their process' suitability by up to 5%.
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| 2. |
- Kamulegeya, G., et al.
(författare)
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Measurements in the Early Stage Software Start-ups: A Multiple Case Study in a Nascent Ecosystem
- 2018
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Ingår i: Foundations of Computing and Decision Sciences. - : Walter de Gruyter GmbH. - 0867-6356 .- 2300-3405. ; 43:4, s. 251-280
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context: Software measurement is crucial to stay competitive and deliver quality software products. Problem: While much research has been done on measurement in large companies in developed countries, there is limited research on measurement in start-ups. So far there are no studies on whether these results apply to nascent ecosystems, such as those in East Africa. Goal: The aim of this study is to understand the use and perceived benefits of measurement in software start-ups in East Africa. Method: We performed a multi-case study on 19 software start-ups in hubs in Uganda and Kenya, through conducting semi-structured interviews. We transcribed and analyzed them using the content analysis technique. Results: We identified that start-ups are using a number of business and product-oriented metrics. Furthermore, we found no evidence on the use of design-oriented metrics. Nonetheless, start-ups have considerable expectations on the benefits of measuring. Finally, metrics found in this study partially differ from metrics used in start-ups in developed countries. Conclusion: There is a need to create a more inclusive characterization for measurement as early start-ups in East Africa cannot yet be represented with known models.
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| 3. |
- Klünder, Jil, et al.
(författare)
-
Catching up with Method and Process Practice: An Industry-Informed Baseline for Researchers
- 2019
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Ingår i: Proceedings - 2019 IEEE/ACM 41st International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering in Practice, ICSE-SEIP 2019. ; May 2019, s. 255-264
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Software development methods are usually not applied by the book.companies are under pressure to continuously deploy software products that meet market needs and stakeholders' requests. To implement efficient and effective development processes, companies utilize multiple frameworks, methods and practices, and combine these into hybrid methods. A common combination contains a rich management framework to organize and steer projects complemented with a number of smaller practices providing the development teams with tools to complete their tasks. In this paper, based on 732 data points collected through an international survey, we study the software development process use in practice. Our results show that 76.8% of the companies implement hybrid methods.company size as well as the strategy in devising and evolving hybrid methods affect the suitability of the chosen process to reach company or project goals. Our findings show that companies that combine planned improvement programs with process evolution can increase their process' suitability by up to 5%.
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| 4. |
- Kuhrmann, Marco, et al.
(författare)
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What Makes Agile Software Development Agile
- 2022
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Ingår i: IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering. - 0098-5589 .- 1939-3520. ; 48:9, s. 3523-3539
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Together with many success stories, promises such as the increase in production speed and the improvement in stakeholders' collaboration have contributed to making agile a transformation in the software industry in which many companies want to take part. However, driven either by a natural and expected evolution or by contextual factors that challenge the adoption of agile methods as prescribed by their creator(s), software processes in practice mutate into hybrids over time. Are these still agile In this article, we investigate the question: what makes a software development method agile We present an empirical study grounded in a large-scale international survey that aims to identify software development methods and practices that improve or tame agility. Based on 556 data points, we analyze the perceived degree of agility in the implementation of standard project disciplines and its relation to used development methods and practices. Our findings suggest that only a small number of participants operate their projects in a purely traditional or agile manner (under 15%). That said, most project disciplines and most practices show a clear trend towards increasing degrees of agility. Compared to the methods used to develop software, the selection of practices has a stronger effect on the degree of agility of a given discipline. Finally, there are no methods or practices that explicitly guarantee or prevent agility. We conclude that agility cannot be defined solely at the process level. Additional factors need to be taken into account when trying to implement or improve agility in a software company. Finally, we discuss the field of software process-related research in the light of our findings and present a roadmap for future research.
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| 5. |
- Liebel, Grischa, 1987, et al.
(författare)
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Human factors in model-driven engineering: future research goals and initiatives for MDE
- 2024
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Ingår i: Software and Systems Modeling. - 1619-1374 .- 1619-1366. ; In Press
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Software modelling and model-driven engineering (MDE) is traditionally studied from a technical perspective. However, one of the core motivations behind the use of software models is inherently human-centred. Models aim to enable practitioners to communicate about software designs, make software understandable, or make software easier to write through domain-specific modelling languages. Several recent studies challenge the idea that these aims can always be reached and indicate that human factors play a role in the success of MDE. However, there is an under-representation of research focusing on human factors in modelling. During a GI-Dagstuhl seminar, topics related to human factors in modelling were discussed by 26 expert participants from research and industry. In breakout groups, five topics were covered in depth, namely modelling human aspects, factors of modeller experience, diversity and inclusion in MDE, collaboration and MDE, and teaching human-aware MDE. We summarise our insights gained during the discussions on the five topics. We formulate research goals, questions, and propositions that support directing future initiatives towards an MDE community that is aware of and supportive of human factors and values.
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| 6. |
- Michael Ayas, Hamdy, 1994, et al.
(författare)
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An empirical investigation on the competences and roles of practitioners in Microservices-based Architectures
- 2024
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Ingår i: Journal of Systems and Software. - 0164-1212. ; 213
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Microservices-based Architectures (MSAs) are gaining popularity since, among others, they enable rapid and independent delivery of software at scale, facilitating the delivery of business value. Additionally, there are attempts towards understanding practitioners’ roles and technical knowledge. MSAs call for affinity in several technologies as well as business domains. This diversity makes it challenging to scope and describe the roles of practitioners. In addition, practitioners often do not receive training and contents of MSA training remain largely undefined, even though there are challenges in finding or developing relevant technical expertise. In this research, we determine the different technical roles that are required in MSAs, along with their detailed competences. We use public online forums (e.g., StackOverflow), where developers share technical knowledge. We analyze 13,517 public profiles of software engineers, deriving their technical competences. Our taxonomy of technical competences in MSAs, contains 11 competences clusters, organized in 3 collections of competences — Web Technologies, DevOps, and Data Technologies. In addition, we derive the roles of microservice practitioners and the characteristics of their roles. Our findings organize the technical competences of MSAs practitioners and determine the training topics and combination of topics that can prepare engineers for MSAs.
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| 7. |
- Michael Ayas, Hamdy, 1994, et al.
(författare)
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An empirical study of the systemic and technical migration towards microservices
- 2023
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Ingår i: Empirical Software Engineering. - 1382-3256 .- 1573-7616. ; 28:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- ContextAs many organizations modernize their software architecture and transition to the cloud, migrations towards microservices become more popular. Even though such migrations help to achieve organizational agility and effectiveness in software development, they are also highly complex, long-running, and multi-faceted.ObjectiveIn this study we aim to comprehensively map the journey towards microservices and describe in detail what such a migration entails. In particular, we aim to discuss not only the technical migration, but also the long-term journey of change, on a systemic level.MethodOur research method is an inductive, qualitative study on two data sources. Two main methodological steps take place - interviews and analysis of discussions from StackOverflow. The analysis of both, the 19 interviews and 215 StackOverflow discussions, is based on techniques found in grounded theory.ResultsOur results depict the migration journey, as it materializes within the migrating organization, from structural changes to specific technical changes that take place in the work of engineers. We provide an overview of how microservices migrations take place as well as a deconstruction of high level modes of change to specific solution outcomes. Our theory contains 2 modes of change taking place in migration iterations, 14 activities and 53 solution outcomes of engineers. One of our findings is on the architectural change that is iterative and needs both a long and short term perspective, including both business and technical understanding. In addition, we found that a big proportion of the technical migration has to do with setting up supporting artifacts and changing the paradigm that software is developed.
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| 8. |
- Michael Ayas, Hamdy, 1994, et al.
(författare)
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The Perceived Impact and Sequence of Activities When Transitioning to Microservices
- 2023
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Ingår i: Proceedings - 17th IEEE International Conference on Service-Oriented System Engineering, SOSE 2023. ; , s. 156-160
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Microservices migrations are often present in organizations that want to modernize and integrate their software systems. There is little empirical evidence showing how migration projects take place. Investigating migration activities and the perceived impact of migrations from practitioners is important to understand how migration projects materialize. In this study, we ask 54 practitioners about their views on specific aspects of microservices migrations. Specifically, we derive the sequence of migration activities as well as the perceived impact of microservices on the development process. Database refactoring, back-end refactoring, and setting up DevOps tend to take place before front-end refactoring, setting up communication patterns, and splitting teams. In addition, aligning teams with profitable value propositions, improving the testing process, and having fewer dependencies between teams are among the prominent impact areas of microservices. Our results call for further empirical research in understanding transitions toward MSAs.
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| 9. |
- Michael Ayas, Hamdy, 1994, et al.
(författare)
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The roles, responsibilities, and skills of engineers in the era of microservices-based architectures
- 2024
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Ingår i: Proceedings - 2024 IEEE/ACM 17th International Conference on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering, CHASE 2024. ; , s. 13-23
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Enterprises often try to tame the complexity of their software using microservices and practitioners generally perceive the impact of microservices as positive. However, different responsibilities fall in the hands of practitioners and new skill-sets are required to address the challenges and reap the benefits of microservices. The objective of this study is to gather and organize what industry requires from microservices practitioners. To achieve this, we conduct a qualitative analysis of 125 job-Ads related to microservices that are gathered from 7 different countries, across 5 continents, posted during 14 consecutive days, sampled from a total of 1351 job-Ads. We contribute with detailed taxonomies on roles, responsibilities, soft-and hard-skills that are necessary for microservices practitioners. Specifically, we detail 5 families of responsibilities, 3 of which are human-centered, describe 8 themes of popular soft-skills and describe 11 themes of popular hard-skills, along with how they relate to soft-skills. Our results indicate the importance of human-centered responsibilities and skills in microservices practitioners, and point to the existence of a job market for microservices software architects with a high demand on human aspects. Hence, our findings can help unravel organizational structures in microservices, improve training programmes, and understand the manifestation of human aspects in microservices.
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| 10. |
- Penzenstadler, Birgit, 1981, et al.
(författare)
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Raising awareness for potential sustainability effects in Uganda: A survey-based empirical study
- 2019
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Ingår i: CEUR Workshop Proceedings. - 1613-0073. ; 2541
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In July 2019, we ran the 3rd International BRIGHT summer school for Software Engineering and Information Systems at the Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. The participants developed a group project over the course of the week, which included the application of the Sustainability Awareness Framework. The framework promotes discussion on the impact of software systems on sustainability based on a set of questions. In this paper, we present the educational evaluation of the Sustainability Awareness Framework in a country in Sub-Saharan Africa. The results indicate that the framework can provide supportive guidance of the societal and environmental challenges in the given context.
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