Seeking the source: software source code as a social and technical artifact

In distributed software development, two sorts of dependencies can arise. The structure of the software system itself can create dependencies between software elements, while the structure of the development process can create dependencies between software developers. Each of these both shapes and reflects the development process. Our research concerns the extent to which, by looking uniformly at artifacts and activities, we can uncover the structures of software projects, and the ways in which development processes are inscribed into software artifacts. We show how a range of organizational processes and arrangements can be uncovered in software repositories, with implications for collaborative work in large distributed groups such as open source communities. Categories and Subject Descriptors D.2.2 [Software Engineering]: Design Tools and Techniques – user interfaces. D.2.10 [Software Engineering]: Design – representation. H.5.3 [Information Systems and Presentation]: Group and ...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: GROUP
• Authors: Cleidson R. B. de Souza, Jon Froehlich, Paul Dourish
• Keywords: Development Process, GROUP 2005, Software, Software Repositories