Agility versus Maturity: Is There Really a Trade-Off?

Most agile teams use some upfront design, and most formal methods are iterative

Analyzing the concept of technical debt in the context of agile software development: A systematic literature review

Technical debt (TD) is a metaphor that is used to communicate the consequences of poor software development practices to non-technical stakeholders. In recent years, it has gained significant attention in agile software development (ASD). The purpose of this study is to analyze and synthesize the state of the art of TD, and its causes, consequences, and management strategies in the context of ASD. Using a systematic literature review (SLR), 38 primary studies, out of 346 studies, were identified and analyzed. We found five research areas of interest related to the literature of TD in ASD. Among those areas, managing TD in ASD received the highest attention, followed by architecture in ASD and its relationship with TD. In addition, eight categories regarding the causes and five categories regarding the consequences of incurring TD in ASD were identified. Focus on quick delivery and architectural and design issues were the most popular causes of incurring TD in ASD. Reduced productivity, system degradation and increased maintenance cost were identified as significant consequences of incurring TD in ASD. Additionally, we found 12 strategies for managing TD in the context of ASD, out of which refactoring and enhancing the visibility of TD were the most significant. The results of this study provide a structured synthesis of TD and its management in the context of ASD as well as potential research areas for further investigation

A mapping study on documentation in Continuous Software Development

Context: With an increase in Agile, Lean, and DevOps software methodologies over the last years (collectively referred to as Continuous Software Development (CSD)), we have observed that documentation is often poor. Objective: This work aims at collecting studies on documentation challenges, documentation practices, and tools that can support documentation in CSD. Method: A systematic mapping study was conducted to identify and analyze research on documentation in CSD, covering publications between 2001 and 2019. Results: A total of 63 studies were selected. We found 40 studies related to documentation practices and challenges, and 23 studies related to tools used in CSD. The challenges include: informal documentation is hard to understand, documentation is considered as waste, productivity is measured by working software only, documentation is out-of-sync with the software and there is a short-term focus. The practices include: non-written and informal communication, the usage of development artifacts for documentation, and the use of architecture frameworks. We also made an inventory of numerous tools that can be used for documentation purposes in CSD. Overall, we recommend the usage of executable documentation, modern tools and technologies to retrieve information and transform it into documentation, and the practice of minimal documentation upfront combined with detailed design for knowledge transfer afterwards. Conclusion: It is of paramount importance to increase the quantity and quality of documentation in CSD. While this remains challenging, practitioners will benefit from applying the identified practices and tools in order to mitigate the stated challenges

Tietoarkkitehtuurin laajentaminen Big Data teknologioilla

Tässä pro gradu -tutkielmassa tavoitteena oli luoda referenssiarkkitehtuuri Big Data -teknologioita hyödyntäen sensoridatan vastaanottamiseksi ja käsittelemiseksi. Luotavan referenssiarkkitehtuurin oli tarkoitus laajentaa olemassa olevaa tietoarkkitehtuuria sensoriaineiston käsittelyn vaatimilla komponenteilla. Nykyinen tietoarkkitehtuuri koostuu operatiivisesta tietokannasta ja tietovarastosta, johon tiedot historioidaan raportoinin tarpeisiin. Toiminnallisena taustana muutokselle on ympäristöterveydenhuollon järjestelmäuudistus. Uuden järjestelmän yhdeksi tavoitteeksi on asetettu sensoridatan käytön lisääminen. Elintarviketurvallisuuden osalta ilmeisin vaihtoehto on Eviran asiantuntijoiden mukaan ravintoloiden kylmätilojen lämpötilan ja kosteuden mittaaminen. Sensoriaineistoa arvioitiin tulevan niin paljon, että sen käsittely ei tietoarkkitehtuurin nykyisillä ratkaisulla olisi mahdollista. Tapauksen pohjalta luotiin vaatimusluettelo ja sen tueksi kerätiin olennaiset kohdat nykyisen järjestelmätoimittajan arkkitehtuuriperiaatteista. Ratkaisua haluttiin etsiä Big Data -teknologioista ja erityisesti reaaliaikaiseen tiedonkäsittelyn mahdollistavista tietovirtojen käsittelyyn suunnatuista teknologioista. Työ on luonteeltaan konstruktiivinen. Siinä luotiin referenssiarkkitehtuuri, joka arvioitiin DCAR-mentelmällä. Arkkitehtuurin rakentamista taustoitettiin teknologiakartoituksella tietovirtojen käsittelyyn tarkoitetuista Big Data -teknologioista. Referenssiarkkitehtuuri kuvatiin JHS-179 -standardilla. Toteutettu kokonaisuus sisältää kuvaukset toiminta, tieto-, tietojärjestelmä ja teknologia-arkkitehtuureista

Reconciling agility and architecture: a theory of agile architecture

The purpose of agile software development is to enable the software development team to respond to change and learn from change so that it can better deliver value to its customer. If an agile software development team spends too much time planning and designing architecture up-front then the delivery of value to the customer is delayed or otherwise compromised, and responding to change can become extremely difficult. Not doing enough architecture design increases exposure to risk and increases the chance of failure. The balance between architecture and agility is not well understood by agile practitioners or researchers. This thesis is based on grounded theory research involving 44 participants from 36 organisations, all working in agile software development and who are either experienced in architecture design or are closely involved with architecture. The thesis presents a theory that describes how agile software teams design an agile architecture with reduced up-front design and which is able to respond to change, helping teams find a balance between architecture and agility. The theory describes six forces that affect the agility of the architecture and up-front design, and five strategies that teams use in response to those forces to determine how much effort they put into up-front design. Understanding these forces and strategies helps agile teams to determine how much up-front design is appropriate in their contexts

Metodološko-radni okvir za razvoj softverske arhitekture poslovnog softvera u agilnim procesima

Предмет истраживања ове дисертације је начин на који однос формалних и неформалних институција које чине институционалну инфраструктуру, утиче на појаву различитих режима привредног раста. Додатно је анализирао да ли разлике у квалитету формалних и неформалних институција утичу на механизам деловања корупције на привредни раст. Узорак на којем је вршено истраживање чине 111 развијених и земаља у развоју у периоду 1985-2014. године.Тhe research subject of this dissertation is the way in which the interaction of formal and informal institutions constituing institutional infrastructure, affects the emergence of different economic growth regimes. Additional analyse was conducted concerning the question whether the differences in the quality of formal and informal institutions affects the mechanism of corruption and economic growth relationship. The research was conducted on the sample that consists of 111 developed and developing countries in the period 1985-2014