Software Development Projects Research Articles

FROM GLOBAL TO LOCAL: A STUDY OF OFFLINE-FIRST COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the move from global to local, in relation to FLOSS software projects and their implementation in local communities. The need stems from a gradual ecological collapse which brings about unforeseeable consequences to human civilization and infrastructures. By investigating the process of global development to local infrastructure, more resilient and localized communication solutions can be implemented. Findings This paper aims to find the challenges in moving from global software development to a local implementation of open source infrastructure by mapping out the issues offline-first protocols face in reaching a stage of local implementation of their development and the issues communities face in implementing their own communication infrastructures. These findings can support the steps of moving from global software development projects to locally implemented infrastructures. Method The method is based on semi-structured interviews with four communities and four protocols with a minimum of 2 interviews with each project and community. At the end of the project an online workshop is hosted enabling collective reflection for the communities and projects, and potential knowledge sharing. Originality The research of moving from global to local is extensively explored through the scaling and commercialization of software. By flipping the approach around and looking at global software developments implementation in local communities this paper delves into a relatively unexplored, and necessary, area of research. The research also supports the active implementation of FLOSS projects for real communities striving towards data-sovereignty and local infrastructures.

A Mobile Secure Content Development Application for Children in the Software Development Life Cycle Framework

This study deals with the software development process of a mobile application that will support children's learning, development and entertainment processes while ensuring their safety in the online environment. The project was carried out within the framework of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and adopted a systematic approach including requirements analysis, design, development, testing and maintenance phases. The application aims to provide appropriate content for children by minimizing digital security risks and to enable parents to safely control their children's internet use. With the Extreme Programming (XP) methodology, a continuous improvement process based on user feedback was implemented and security and performance tests were successfully completed. The article shows that not only coding but also effective management of the whole process in software development projects contributes to project success. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on children's digital safety and provide a basis for future research in this field.

Особенности внедрения гибких методологий в процесс разработки программного обеспечения в сфере телекоммуникационных услуг

The article discusses the features of the introduction of agile methodologies in the process of software development (hereinafter referred to as software) in the field of telecommunications services. The great need for IT products forces their manufacturers to look for new solutions and approaches that help reduce development time without negatively affecting the quality of the final product. Changing software development processes affects both its technical and business side, including management. Despite the existence of a large number of modern management methodologies, choosing the most appropriate one is a difficult process, as it requires careful setting of goals and search criteria. The success of both the implementing company and the customer company depends on how well the software development management model is selected. The purpose of the study is to unify agile methodology for managing software development in the field of telecommunications services. The objectives are to modernize the software development management system based on Kanban and the UML language and to work out the stages of implementing the methodology. The methodological basis of the research was based on such methods as analysis and systematization, which include systematic, complex and comparative approaches, as well as experiment. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the creation of a unified software development management model for the telecommunications sector. The article notes that the basis of the unified model is the stages of implementation of the Kanban methodology, through which the number of phases of the software development management process and, consequently, the time for project implementation was reduced. The authors emphasize that the developed unified model can be used not only in the management of software development in the field of telecommunications services, but also in any other software development project, regardless of the field of activity.

Advancing Software Project Effort Estimation: Leveraging a NIVIM for Enhanced Preprocessing

ABSTRACTSoftware development effort estimation (SDEE) is essential for effective project planning and relies heavily on data quality affected by incomplete datasets. Missing data (MD) are a prevalent problem in machine learning, yet many models treat it arbitrarily despite its significance. Inadequate handling of MD may introduce bias into the induced knowledge. It can be challenging to choose optimal imputation approaches for software development projects. This article presents a novel incomplete value imputation model (NIVIM) that uses a variational autoencoder (VAE) for imputation and synthetic data. By combining contextual and resemblance components, our approach creates an SDEE dataset and improves the data quality using contextual imputation. The key feature of the proposed model is its applicability to a wide variety of datasets as a preprocessing unit. Comparative evaluations demonstrate that NIVIM outperforms existing models such as VAE, generative adversarial imputation network (GAIN), ‐nearest neighbor (K‐NN), and multivariate imputation by chained equations (MICE). Our proposed model NIVIM produces statistically substantial improvements on six benchmark datasets, that is, ISBSG, Albrecht, COCOMO81, Desharnais, NASA, and UCP, with an average improvement in RMSE of 11.05% to 17.72% and MAE of 9.62% to 21.96%.

Proposal for student entry profile into software projects under the ISO/IEC 29110 standard

This article presents a profile of minimum desirable competencies that engineering students should meet when developing software projects within the ISO/IEC 29110 standard. Starting by presenting related works on skills and attitudes in software development, a literature review is made on the key skills of software engineers and these key skills are mapped to the roles of the work team of the ISO/IEC 29110 standard. Finally, the desirable soft skills and technical skills for students who will join work teams under the ISO/IEC 29110 standard are shown.

Agile Software Development with Secure and Scrum-Centric Approach

The fulfillment of agile models is crucial for ensuring that a software development project's tasks are completed efficiently and collaboratively. The definitions of the project architecture are usually performed in these models. Factors such as delivery time, cost and maintenance are determined. In traditional methods, project stages are carried out sequentially. After one of the stages is completed, another one is performed. When an innovation or change is attempted at any point in the project, some problems occur. These problems can generally be solved with Scrum agile methods, where communication is highlighted and processes are performed more flexibly. It is an undeniable fact that Scrum and security issues can be brought together when incorporating the Scrum strategy into software development models. In such a case, models are used that allow Security and Scrum to work within a framework. In this study, scientific studies based on scientific evidence aimed at eliminating incompatibilities in software development systematics were analyzed. The distribution of the publication years, the relation of scrum and security, the citation topic, the bibliometric maps and co-citation report are used in these analysis. In the result of these analyses, bibliometric and statistical analysis results of studies in the literature on software development that includes security principles with the Scrum model were revealed. When the results obtained in the experiments were examined, it was concluded that it was possible to develop secure software with an architecture in which Scrum and Security models were used together. During the software development phase, it enables proactive risk management by blending scrum and security elements. It also allows teams to detect security vulnerabilities during the software development phase. These facilitate the creation of a more secure and durable software product.

The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Modern Software Engineering

Abstract. The rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has significantly influenced various industries, including software engineering. This paper explores the integration of AI into software engineering, focusing on its applications across different stages of the software development life cycle, including design, development, testing, project management, and maintenance. AI's ability to automate tasks, enhance efficiency, and improve code quality is revolutionizing how software is built and maintained. The paper also addresses the challenges and risks associated with AI-driven software engineering, such as dependency on AI tools, ethical concerns, and security vulnerabilities. Finally, the paper highlights future trends in AI-powered software engineering, including adaptive and self-healing systems, AI-enhanced collaboration, and full software automation. The role of AI in shaping the future of software engineering is both profound and transformative, making it a critical area of study.

EXPLORING AGILE EFFORT ESTIMATION ISSUES: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

Effort estimation is crucial in software development, especially in Agile projects. The 2020 Standish Group survey found that only 31% of software projects success. The success of a software development project depends on the accuracy of effort estimation. This research aims to analyze studies related to effort estimation methods in Agile software development to identify related issues. A systematic literature review by Kitchenham was conducted across Emerald, Science Direct, Scopus, SpringerLink, and IEEE databases and identified 239 relevant studies from 2018 and 2023, ultimately focusing on 40 studies about effort estimation challenges in Agile software development. The research revealed 59 issues related to various estimation methods. The main challenge in effort estimation for Agile software development is team experience and limited knowledge about the domain, which results in inaccurate estimation result. Requirements’ details, tasks complexity, and lack of data will complicate problem-solving and the prediction of the duration of completion. Reliance on expert judgment will increase the risk of bias and inaccuracy in estimates. These challenges increase the likelihood of project failure due to a mismatch between initial planning and reality as development progresses.

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS OF AGILE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT IN WATERFALL PROJECT: A CASE STUDY APPROACH

The evolution of software development methodologies has seen Agile rise in response to the limitations of traditional approaches like Waterfall, characterized by its iterative, collaborative, and adaptable nature. However, integrating Agile within the rigid, structured frameworks of organizations accustomed to Waterfall presents significant challenges. This study addresses how to effectively combine these methodologies to mitigate conflicts and achieve successful project outcomes by identifying and analyzing the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) that enable a harmonious integration of Agile into Waterfall environments. Conducted at PT ABC, a firm balancing formal client interactions and contract creation with internal adoption of Scrum, this research uses the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to systematically prioritize CSFs through literature review, questionnaire development, data collection, and pairwise comparison analysis. The findings reveal that "Communication and Team Environment" is the most influential factor, with a priority vector weight of 0.178, followed by "Project Management and Strategy," "Leadership and Management Support," and "User and Customer Engagement." These factors are pivotal in achieving a balance between control and flexibility in software development projects. The study's implications for PT ABC and other organizations, especially those handling multiple projects and requiring on-site presence while managing other projects, demonstrate how to leverage the strengths of both methodologies for optimal project outcomes. This research provides a model for other organizations striving for similar integrative efforts, showcasing practical strategies to enhance project flexibility and coordination.

Improving Effort Estimation Accuracy in Software Development Projects Using Multiple Imputation Techniques for Missing Data Handling

The challenge of accurately estimating effort for software development projects is critical for project managers (PM) and researchers. A common issue they encounter is missing data values in datasets, which complicates effort estimation (EE). While several models have been introduced to address this issue, none have proven entirely effective. The Analogy-Based Effort Estimation (ABEE) model is the most widely used approach, relying on historical data for estimation. However, the common practice of deleting cases or cells with missing observations results in a reduction of statistical power and negatively impacts the performance of ABEE, leading to inefficiencies and biases. This study employs the Multiple Imputation (MI) technique to address missing data by filling in incomplete cases. A comparison is conducted between the original and imputed ISBSG datasets for both small- and large-scale projects, using six other imputation techniques to identify the most effective method for ABEE. The results demonstrate that the MI technique enhances effort estimation, providing more accurate and efficient outcomes while preserving valuable information throughout the project estimation process.

Integrating the Software Development Lifecycle into Work-Integrated Learning:

Work-integrated learning is crucial for student development, providing hands-on experience in industry placements or project-based learning at higher educational institutions. This article evaluates the impact of adopting a Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) process in work-integrated learning software development projects at a University of Technology. Comparing two student projects, the waterfall model resulted in substandard conversion between class diagrams and route classes, while the agile model allowed frequent reviews and modifications, resulting in alignment between class diagrams and route classes. The key difference was the absence of clear directional indicators and comprehensive descriptions of class relationships. It is recommended that students adopt an appropriate SDLC model that meets their specific project needs within a work-integrated learning environment.

Early Estimation in Agile Software Development Projects: A Systematic Mapping Study

Estimating during the early stages is crucial for determining the feasibility and conducting the budgeting and planning of agile software development (ASD) projects. However, due to the characteristics of ASD and limited initial information, these estimates are often complicated and inaccurate. This study aims to systematically map the literature to identify the most used estimation techniques; the reasons for their selection; the input artifacts, predictors, and metrics associated with these techniques; as well as research gaps in early-stage estimations in ASD. This study was based on the guidelines proposed by Kitchenham for systematic literature reviews in software engineering; a review protocol was defined with research questions and criteria for the selection of empirical studies. Results show that data-driven techniques are preferred to reduce biases and inconsistencies of expert-driven techniques. Most selected studies do not mention input artifacts, and software size is the most commonly used predictor. Machine learning-based techniques use publicly available data but often contain records of old projects from before the agile movement. The study highlights the need for tools supporting estimation activities and identifies key areas for future research, such as evaluating hybrid approaches and creating datasets of recent projects with sufficient contextual information and standardized metrics.

Optimizing development and operations from the project success perspective using the analytic hierarchy process

By merging development and operation disciplines, the approach known as development and operations (DevOps) can significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of software development. Despite its potential benefits, successfully implementing DevOps within traditional project management frameworks presents significant challenges. This study explores the critical factors influencing the implementation of DevOps practices from the project management perspective, specifically focusing on software development projects in the Ministry of Finance. This study utilizes the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to prioritize the critical elements of project success criteria and DevOps factors necessary for effective implementation. The findings indicate that stakeholder satisfaction, quality, and value creation are the primary criteria for project success. Moreover, knowledge and skills, collaboration and communication, and robust infrastructure are pivotal factors for facilitating DevOps within project management. The study provides actionable insights for organizations aiming to improve their project outcomes by incorporating DevOps and offers a systematic approach to decision-making using AHP. This study recognizes limitations due to its focus on specific contexts and emphasizes the need for future research in diverse organizational environments to validate and expand these findings.

Software Change Request in Software Development Project : Factors and Methods (Scoping Review Methods)

Software development is dynamic by nature, often requiring changes in software requirements through Software Change Requests (SCRs). This research aims to identify and analyze the key factors that influence SCRs in software development projects and evaluate the methods used to effectively manage these changes. This research uses the Scoping Review Method to systematically review and synthesize existing literature on SCRs, aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of current practices, challenges, and strategies for managing software change requests. The review includes an extensive search of academic databases to identify relevant studies that address SCR factors and management methods. Key factors that influence SCR include project size, complexity, stakeholder involvement, and clarity of initial requirements. Methods for managing SCR are categorized into formal approaches, such as structured change control processes and tools, and informal approaches, which rely on ad-hoc communication and collaboration. The results underscore the importance of a well-defined change management process to mitigate the risks associated with SCR. Effective SCR management can improve project outcomes by improving software quality, increasing stakeholder satisfaction, and minimizing project delays. This research has practical implications for software development professionals by providing insight into effective SCR management techniques. This research also identifies gaps in the literature, recommending future research on the impact of agile methodologies and the use of automated tools in facilitating change management. Understanding these factors and methods enables practitioners to better navigate the complexities of software change, ensuring successful project delivery and maintaining high software quality.

What helps Agile remote teams to be successful in developing software? Empirical evidence

Software development firms have specific goals but today's dynamic business environment, especially regarding the use of remote teams, presents great challenges due to uncertainties and multiple risks. This study investigates the facilitators of the success of Agile software development projects delivered by remote teams. We employ a conceptual research model founded on the technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework. The study contributes to the literature by exploring how remote teams affect the success of Agile software development projects. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis of the data collected from 198 IT professionals revealed that perceived pressure from government, job performance, and team satisfaction are significant in explaining these projects’ success.

Excellence Practices in Scrum Paradigm in Software Development

This article presents a comprehensive approach to improving Scrum methodology in practical software development. This article is intended for software engineering scientists and expert practitioners who develop their software products in the Scrum paradigm. The proposed best practices align with contemporary trends in the IT domain, including the complete digitalization and virtualization of production processes, the shift to fully remote software development, the integration of artificial intelligence technologies, and cost-saving models in team organization. The changes in software production processes discussed in this article are based on research conducted between 2020 and 2023. Those research encompasses the experiences of leading Russian, European, and international IT companies, and highlights the significant shift in IT business organization towards new standards of Scrum team efficiency. These standards include the data-driven formalization of production models, automation through AI tools, and visible cost optimization in engineer's teams, aligning closely with the demands of modern IT businesses. The article outlines a set of management actions designed to adapt to these evolving trends in the IT domain. These actions range from the formalization of sprint goals and processes in Scrum to sophisticated management of technical debt and the cost-effective organization of developer teams. As a main contribution in the article there are presented most valuable Scrum paradigm excellence elements: implementing measurable and specific sprint goals in SMART-format, cost-saving practices, management of sprint parameters, usage of AI tools in software engineering. Presented in article recommendations might help in practical implementation of those process changes, based on industry practice and reduce any corresponding risks on software development projects. Received: 18 June 2024 | Revised: 12 August 2024 | Accepted: 5 September 2024 Conflicts of Interest The author declares that he has no conflicts of interest to this work. Data Availability Statement Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study. Author Contribution Statement Denis Pashchenko: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Data curation, Writing - original draft, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration

Sustainability and software development projects: leadership, core self-evaluation and empowerment as critical success factors

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to integrate job demands–resources theory with core self-evaluation theory to examine how and when sustainable project leadership stimulates sustainable project performance. Psychological empowerment is used as a mechanism between sustainable project leadership and sustainable project performance, whereas core self-evaluation acts as a moderator between sustainable project leadership and psychological empowerment.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts a time-lagged two-phase approach to collecting data from 257 software engineers working in medium-sized and large companies in the Polish financial sector.FindingsThis study reveals the direct and indirect (through psychological empowerment) effects of sustainable project leadership on sustainable project performance. It also confirms that the “sustainable project leadership–psychological empowerment” relationship strengthens with increasing level of project team members’ core self-evaluation.Originality/valueThis article explores a unique research framework. It significantly enriches the literature on sustainable project management, increasing the understanding of effective leadership practices that address the needs of software engineering teams to support sustainable project performance.

Perceived impact of agile principles: Insights from a survey-based study on agile software development project success

ContextAgile methodology has emerged as a fundamental framework guiding software development projects, emphasizing values and principles for achieving successful project outcomes. Despite the widespread recognition of the importance of agile principles, there remains a gap in empirical research investigating their actual impact on agile project success. ObjectiveThis research aims to examine the relationship between agile principles and project outcomes and provide empirical evidence supporting the importance of agile principles in achieving success in agile software development (ASD) projects. MethodA total of 298 Agile project practitioners participated in an online survey between August and September 2023 to test this study's research model using the partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method. ResultsWe find a significant relationship between adopting agile principles and project success, with regular delivery, technical excellence, team member proactivity, and customer collaboration showing the highest impact on Agile project success. However, process simplicity was found not to be significant in the study. ConclusionsOur analysis verifies the importance of Agile principles and suggests areas for further study to successfully understand their impact on Agile projects. The findings contribute to the ongoing discourse on agile principles and their impact on software development project success, opening avenues for future research and the refinement of agile methodologies. These insights could assist organizations in optimizing Agile practices and decision-making, leading to more successful and efficient software development projects.

Smart recommender for the configuration of software project development teams

The development of Social Media has caused an incredible change in the way people communicate and share information. It provides a set of platforms, web-based applications and services that facilitate the collaborative creation of content and the sharing of ideas and interests. Since its inception, Social Media technologies have been increasingly used in different fields that have integrated them into their daily lives. In Software Engineering, for example, it has caused a disruptive change in the software development model, changing the way that the projects are approached by promoting collaborative environments. This effect has led to the proliferation of the software development communities where huge amounts of information are published every day. Therefore, when a project is started and a development team needs to be assembled, it is difficult to select and identify the most suitable developer profiles for such a project by considering all the disseminated information. To solve this problem, we have proposed an ontology-based system to help find a suitable group of developers to develop a project. The system uses web services to extract user profiles from GitHub, and semantic technologies to represent and annotate the features of the extracted data. Then, when the system receives the natural language description of the project to be developed, it identifies and extracts relevant concepts such as technologies, platforms, tools, among others. As a result, it analyzes the extracted information and lists the most suitable developers to assemble a team of developers with the right technical skills to tackle the software project. For evaluation purposes, we generated a random list of GitHub profiles, and collected a corpus of documents describing research projects and patents. The system produced very promising results, achieving a MAP@5 and F-Measure of 0.68.

Team delivery capability and agility: complementary effects on information systems development project outcomes

Contemporary Information systems development (ISD) involves not only implementing a predefined set of requirements but also managing changes that emerge during the development process due to unanticipated business and technical needs. ISD project requirements increasingly become both planned and emergent. ISD teams need delivery capabilities to routinely execute what has been planned, and agile capabilities to sense and respond to changes that emerge during the development project. In other words, ISD teams must effectively manage their abilities to not only routinely deliver software applications that meet defined requirements but also sense and respond to changes emerging during the project. The extant literature has not studied the distinction and relationship between ISD team delivery capability and agility. This study empirically examines the differential effects of ISD team delivery capability and agility on ISD project outcomes. Survey data collected from professionals working on 160 software development projects were used to test the research model and hypotheses. The results suggest that ISD delivery capability positively affects agility, agility positively impacts change-response outcome, and agility mediates the relationship between delivery capability and change-response outcome.