Traditional Software Development Research Articles

The Impact of Agile Development Practices on Project Outcomes

Agile software development methods were introduced to minimize problems faced using traditional software development approaches. There are several Agile approaches used in developing software projects, these include Scrum, Extreme programming and Kanban. An Agile approach focuses on collaboration between customers and developers and encourages development teams to be self-organizing. To achieve this there are different Agile practices teams choose to use in their projects. Some teams only use one practice whilst others use a combination of practices. The most common practices used are stand-ups, user stories, Burndown chart/Burnup chart, pair programming, Epic and User stories. This paper reports on the analysis of the data collected from people involved in Agile software development teams and identifies that the combination of practices in Agile software development have an impact on the communication in the team, project requirements and project priorities, with more practices being adopted correlating with better project outcomes.

The Importance of Agile Technique in Comparison to Sequential Design Models

Software development procedures are constantly evolving to monitor and evaluate the quality and to save money and time. Numerous organizations are migrating away from traditional business models and toward agile methodologies. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate both traditional and agile software development approaches and the numerous techniques associated with them. This analysis conducted identical investigations into two radically different ways of thinking about product development: traditional methods and agile approaches. The paper is supported by several studies commissioned by various organizations to determine the transition from the traditional to the agile paradigm. The follow-up and data analysis explore and reveal changes and emerging trends that arose announcement of the agile technique which is mentioned in this paper, and also has gained increasing prominence in agile in product development over the last couple of years.

Role of Agile in Digital Public Health Transformation

The digitalisation of healthcare, fueled by advances in technology and the COVID-19 pandemic can not only empower equitable access to global expert-level healthcare but also make healthcare more patient-centric. Every digital health solution has one common fundamental component: they all run on computing platforms and are powered by complex software. Traditional software development life cycles have often failed in designing complex software; consequently, the agile approach was introduced. To assess the role of agile in digital public health transformation, we used the synthetic knowledge synthesis, a triangulation of bibliometric mapping, and thematic analysis to analyse the available literature harvested from PubMed. The analysis showed that the use of the agile approach is underutilised in developing digital health software. Moreover, the study revealed that health organisations did not yet embrace the agile culture and should adapt using innovative agile solutions to deliver clinical value to patients and public health systems. Following the software industry, where agile software development is becoming the mainstream approach also for sensitive and regulated software, it is becoming even more essential that the digital health software development process should be modernised. Furthermore, a shift to agile collaboration, agile decision-making, trial tolerance, active engagement, purposeful technology adoption, knowledge sharing, and an open agile innovation ecosystem must be achieved.

CAN message unpack and pack based on simulink automatic code generation technology

Aiming at the problem of a large amount of CAN communication message data of automobile controllers and low efficiency of traditional software development, this paper proposes a method of CAN message unpack and pack based on Simulink automatic code generation technology. S-Function is used to design CAN message sending and receiving model that can import DBC files, and use RTW (real-time workshop) to realize Simulink model to automatically generate C code. This method effectively solves the unpack and pack of CAN messages, simplifies the code development process, and improves the efficiency of software development, especially when there are DBC files, which simplifies the work of sending and receiving and testing.

A Hybrid Architecture for Mission–Critical, Real–Time Web Client Applications

This paper describes a hybrid software architecture that can be used to develop powerful, real–time Web applications for monitoring industrial processes with a high degree of reliability and availability. Our architecture enables developers to combine traditional desktop software development techniques with new Web development methodologies in order to achieve multiplatform, mission–critical applications that are visually attractive, flexible and modern.

Artificial intelligence pitfalls and how to avoid them

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a mainstream technology and has become a cornerstone in digital transformation initiatives. Founded on sound academic principles, why do so many projects fail? Getting AI into business pipelines is a relatively new discipline that faces several of the same challenges as traditional software development and many that are specific to the discipline. This paper aims to highlight the common pitfalls that hamper AI projects, from initiatives that are interesting science projects to abstract dreams. Putting the proper controls in place will drive success while achieving the fine balance between killing innovation with too much governance or creating the Wild West with too little. There are many foundations needed to help mitigate many of the common pitfalls and are significant contributors to getting AI over the line and into production in a way that creates market differentiation.

Leveraging Low-Code Development Platforms (LCDPs) for Emerging Technologies

Low code development platforms (LCDPs) are completely transforming how software applications are built because anyone with little experience in code development can build complex software solutions quickly. This research seeks opportunities for LCDPs to be optimized to improve the uptake and deployment of modern technologies, including AI, IoT, and Blockchain. Although innovative, these technologies bring hardships to traditional software development since they are complex and hungry for resources. LCDPs solve the problem because they take less time, are more flexible, don’t cost as much as traditional development programs, and make new technologies accessible to even more firms and people with ideas. For this paper, LCDPs’ main benefits are highlighted as follows: time to market advantage, development advantages, and accessibility to technology. Employing case studies in its analysis, the study reviews how LCDPs are applied in AI, IoT, and Blockchain projects to understand their efficiency. The evidence shows that LCDPs are altering the software development process and are also the enablers of future technological solutions.

The Value Creation Determinants of the Global Software Engineering Industry

Every requirement in the software application does not add value to the end users equally where the stakeholders are benefited through them. Majority of the current software engineering practices are formed and done in a value neutral way. With the recent demand for the global software engineering, many organizations have decided to either initiate their own technology centers in the low-cost countries or to partner with outsourced companies to get the benefits of it. However, the practitioners tried applying the traditional software development processes without a proper customization of them to best suit for the distributed teams. Due to the nature of this industry, those traditional processes have further eroded the value with unnecessary checkpoints and gates. This research therefore was carried out to identify the value creation dimensions and their influence creating value with special reference the global software engineering industry. For that, a systematic literature review was carried out and findings were categorized to five areas based on the research questions. They are benefit realization in the delivery process, eliciting and reconciling the requirements for stakeholder value proposition, business case analysis against the business processes, assessment of the value, risk, and opportunity through the frameworks and finally value based monitoring and control through the software development methodology. Mapping the development processes against these areas can change the value addition on the global software engineering industry.

State of agile contracting in the software industry and the public sector, results of a systematic mapping of the literature

Context: Agile approaches are the answer to the rigid framework for traditional software development. These focus on creating products based on communication and continuous collaboration between the client and supplier, which are detailed characteristics in documents; it is also true that the contractual agreements for such approaches continue to be structured according to the restrictions of the traditional development of software products. Meticulous specifications and restrictions such as time, cost and scope are just some of the fixed conditions of the contractual agreement. In this sense, traditional contracts do not respond adequately to agile software development and, for this reason, agile contracts emerge as a framework of agreement that stipulates the conditions that are clearly necessary to allow development under these approaches. Methodology: a systematic mapping of the literature is presented that aims to show a current panorama of agile contracting for software development and its application in different sectors of the economy with an emphasis on the public sector. Results: The results obtained show few examples of the application of agile contracts, especially in the public sector; suggesting research opportunities and the generation of proposals in this context. Conclusions: It has been concluded that the contracting methods used by public institutions can be an obstacle to agile approaches. In addition, this document presents recommendations for adjusting contracts that seek to facilitate developments approached from the perspective of agile approaches in the public sector.

Measuring the Impact of Factors Affecting Game Development in Distributed Software Development

A software game is an application that is not only applicable for entertainment purposes but also used in domains like business, education and health care. Software game development is a multidisciplinary process that involves art, sound, artificial intelligence (AI), control systems and human factors which makes it different from traditional software development practice. Distributed software development (DSD) facilitates decentralized zones for the availability of multidisciplinary human resources at less cost. Past studies explored many influencing factors for game development, however, how these factors majorly affect the game development in Distributed Software Development (DSD) environment yet not been studied as per our knowledge. In this research, we not only identified the most influencing factors for game development in DSD but also gauge a relationship matrix between these factors with games’ technical requirements. In our evaluation, we took twenty-nine top-rated animated games to establish a mapping of these factors present in these games. To calculate the variation in a given project budget, we execute Monte-Carlo simulations between the independent variable (influencing factors) and dependent variable (overall cost) that forecast the valuation of each variable impact on the overall nominal cost of the project. Empirical results of our research conclude that among all identified factors, ‘Physical Resources’ and ‘Freelancers’ have a significant impact on the overall project cost. Our research findings quantitatively assist the software project managers to estimate the cost deviations due to influencing factors in Distributed Software Development (DSD) environment. 

The effects of using the agile methodology as an instructional format for software development courses

The objective of traditional software development courses focuses on competencies in the programming languages and technical tools. Project methodologies and software development are typically taught as theory-driven and separate courses in Information Systems undergraduate programs. Rather than teaching project methodologies as secondary to the learning phase of software development, these methodologies can be actively incorporated into the software development course, applying the theoretical concepts in the classroom with the same tools used in the industry for product development. This research evaluates the effects of instituting the project methodology Agile as an active learning, instructional tool for a low-code software development course using the Mendix platform to give students hands-on learning of Agile while increasing their expertise in software development. The use of Agile in an instructional pedagogical approach enhanced student learning and prepared students with skills directly applicable in the industry. Future research could be applied to measure the Agile methodology as an instructional format for technical courses other than software development.

Why and how is Scrum being adapted in practice: A systematic review

Scrum, recognized today as the most popular agile development methodology, has been used in a wide range of settings and for varying purposes, in- and outside of the traditional software development context. The use of Scrum in non-traditional settings and for different needs led to a considerable corpus of academic literature that investigates, presents, and discusses modifications to the original method, aimed to make it fit such novel forms of application. Based on a large-scale review of extant literature, this study systematically analyses why and how Scrum was reportedly modified in different instances and contributes with a synthesis that can serve as a basis for a more systematic approach to future research and practice. We explicate nine common modification objectives for change (e.g., attaining high performance, non-standard contexts, distributed development) mapped against seven generic modification strategies (e.g., method guidance, new procedures, or artifacts). Building on our extensive literature analysis we highlight research gaps and identify promising areas for future research.

The impact of general data protection regulation on software engineering practices

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the changes imposed by the general data protection regulation (GDPR) on software engineering practices. The fundamental objective is to have a perception of the practices and phases that have experienced the greatest changes. Additionally, it aims to identify a set of good practices that can be adopted by software engineering companies.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a qualitative methodology through four case studies involving Portuguese software engineering companies. Two of these companies are small and medium enterprises (SMEs) while the other remaining two are micro-companies. The thematic analysis is adopted to identify patterns in the performed interviews.FindingsThe findings indicate that significant changes have occurred at all stages of software development. In particular, the initial stages of identifying requirements and modeling processes were the stages that experienced the greatest changes. On the opposite, the technical development phase has not noticeably changed but, nevertheless, it is necessary to look at the importance of training software developers for GDPR rules and practices.Research limitations/implicationsTwo relevant limitations were identified as follows: only four case studies involving micro-companies and SMEs were considered, and only the traditional software development methodology was considered. The use of agile methodologies was not explored in this study and the findings can only be mainly applied to the waterfall model.Originality/valueThis study offers mainly practical contributions by identifying a set of challenges that are posed to software engineering companies by the implementation of GDPR. Through their knowledge, it is expected to help these companies to better prepare themselves and anticipate the challenges they will necessarily face.

‘Toward a Global Social Contract for Trade’ - a Rawlsian approach to Blockchain Systems Design and Responsible Trade Facilitation in the New Bretton Woods era

Imminent changes to the international monetary system alongside a shift toward more egalitarian principles of justice in commercial contracts for trade are now taking place. Such changes however do not sufficiently account for circumstances of hardship, or black-swan events such as COVID-19, whereby the relative losers of trading arrangements should continue to receive outcomes which are not only efficient, but also fair and resilient. We argue that the ‘Society-in-the-Loop’ (SITL) social contract paradigm, in conjunction with the use of Strategic Responsible Innovation Management (StRIM), can together provide a solution for improving distributive justice in trade. Through collaboration with a locally based trade facilitation company, we describe the innovation-planning phase of a blockchain smart contract solution based on Derek Leben's idea of a ‘Rawlsian Algorithm’ (2017). It is demonstrated how this can be used to strengthen the algorithmic fairness of commercial contract implementation in accordance with existing ISO 20022 standards. Since currently no formal design framework exists for modeling blockchain oriented software (BOS), an agile development approach is adopted which takes account of the substantial difference between traditional software development and smart contracts. This method involves the construction of UML Use Case, Sequence, and Class diagrams, with a view to blockchain specificities. Evaluation and feedback from the company is also considered.

Using Social Intelligence to Overcome Agile Adoption Challenges

ABSTRACT Agile adoption is gaining popularity in many organizations, even those steeped in traditional software development. However, project managers often cannot implement agile to its full potential given the numerous human- and process-related challenges. This research focuses on how project managers can tailor agile to overcome human-related challenges. Using a grounded theory approach, we examine how managers’ social intelligence competencies play a pivotal role in overcoming the human-related challenges emanating from stakeholders rooted in the traditional waterfall development approach. An understanding of this area informs practitioners on the interventions that can be taken and competencies that can be cultivated to maximize the success of agile adoption despite human-related challenges.

Role of ITOps in DevOps

The IT industry is transforming itself by adopting DevOps through a combination of development practices, cultural philosophies, software tools that increases the ability to deliver products and applications at high velocity by continuously improving delivery at a faster pace than using traditional software development methods. The success of DevOps relies on the culture of collaborative development, continuous Integration, strong agile principles, reduce time and faster feedback loops, automation of testing and operations work. The expectation of IT Operations is to scale up to the need of provisioning the required hardware infrastructure at the speed of DevOps. This would involve ITOps to be highly efficient and adopt lean principles and culture in terms of hardware procurement and provisioning, network infrastructure, server and device management, IT operations and help desk support. There is a great divide between DevOps which demands Agility and change, verses ITOps that wants to adopt principles of Stability, Compliances and Governance. This paper talks about challenges of both practices and how they could bridge the gap and come together to make the change for a digital transformation.

Synthesizing researches on Knowledge Management and Agile Software Development using the Meta-ethnography method

Context:Software development processes are considered as knowledge intensive and therefore Knowledge Management (KM) can be applied to efficiently manage the knowledge generated. Agile practices can benefit software organizations in terms of KM. Some studies have already presented evidence about this relationship. However, the intersection of these two areas still requires further clarification. Objective:This study synthesizes research on KM and Agile Software Development (ASD) using the meta-ethnography method considering Scrum and XP frameworks. Method:In order to achieve the proposed goal, first, a diagnostic was conducted in different project domains with agile and traditional software development in order to identify the performance of KM activities. Second, the phases of the meta-ethnography analysis method were applied in a set of studies selected from a tertiary review on KM and ASD, as well as classic guides and area references. Finally, the relationships that were identified among the areas investigated were analyzed from interviews with agile development methodology experts. Results:The most common activity investigated between KM and ASD is knowledge sharing. However, in the practical view of software development companies, the attention is on how to use the generated knowledge. Conclusion:The clarification of how KM is present in each agile value, practices, and artifacts allows a reflection on how much knowledge was created, shared, and applied during ASD. Besides, such results presented in this study enable organizations to know each other better and to explore more each KM activity, thus contributing to delivering more value to the customer.

AGILE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

Agile Software Development plays a quintessential part in modern day software development. The term Agile refers to frequent reassessment and adaptation of plans and techniques and dividing tasks into shorter tasks for efficiency. Agile Software Development differs considerably from Traditional Software Development Methodology. Agile methodology aims to deliver features of a software project in small steps within a short duration of time (i.e., iterations). Hence, it becomes necessary to use agile software development methodology in todays’ fast-paced revolutionizing software industry. This paper discusses the important subtopics of Agile Software Development which gathered by reviewing/surveying of research papers. First, is the Agile Planning Life Cycle which consists of various stages such as pre-planning, planning, release planning and product backlog management. In the next section, principles such as Scrum, Extreme Programming, Kanban and Lean are discussed. The last section comprises the impact of Agile principles on software quality.

Experience With Managing Technical Debt in Scientific Software Development Using the EXA2PRO Framework

Technical Debt (TD) is a software engineering metaphor that resembles the production of poor-quality code to going into debt. In particular, a development team that “ saves ” effort while developing by not removing inefficiencies, has to “ pay-back ” with interest, in the form of additional maintenance costs (i.e., fixing bugs, adding features, etc.) due to the poor maintainability of the developed code. Although maintainability assurance is an established practice in traditional software development (lately known as TD management), it has still not attracted the attention of scientific software developers; i.e., researchers writing code and developing tools for purely research purposes. Nevertheless, based on the literature and practice, maintainability seems to be ranked as an important key-driver for the development of such applications; since the effort needed to update the code before the experimentation (e.g., executing a simulation) is common and should not receive low priority. In this paper, we present the outcome of a 3-year research project on Technical Debt Management (TDM) for scientific software development. The outcome of the project is a framework (termed: EXA2PRO TDM framework) and an accompanying platform for assisting scientific software developers in managing the TD of their applications. The framework is a collection of methods tailored for the mainstream programming languages of scientific software development, which have been empirically validated through five pilot applications. The majority of the EXA2PRO framework suggestions have been applied by scientific software developers and eased future maintenance activities.

Investigating Crucial Factors of Agile Software Development Through Composite Approach

The major emphasis of Software Engineering (SE) discipline is to produce successful software systems. The success of software projects is estimated through quadruple measures including budget, cost, scope, and quality. To meet this aim of SE, several software development processes are presented in the literature. Such processes are categorized into two different methodologies which are known as traditional and agile software development methodologies. The issue with traditional software development methodologies is that they had not shown any remarkable progress towards the fundamental goal of SE. Consequently, software development organizations have started to adopt agile methodologies in the pursuit of successful software development. However, agile adoption does not come without challenges that vary from one context to another. Therefore, it is necessary to figure out the key factors of agile software development for successful project outcomes. In the wake of such need, this study investigated the Critical Success Factors (CSFs), categorized and prioritized them through a mixed-method approach. Such an approach was based on the detailed literature review and Delphi method accompanied with Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) technique. Twelve CSFs were revealed and categorized into people, organization and technical dimensions. Among these factors, ‘team capability’ was found the most significant factor where ‘culture’ was revealed as the least significant factor. The findings of the study would be promising for agile software development that is carried on in the local software industry.