Motivators of adopting social computing in global software development: Initial results

context: Real-time collaboration is critical for developing high quality software systems at low cost in a geographically distributed Global Software Development (GSD) environment. It is anticipated that emerging Social Computing tools can play an important role in facilitating realtime effective collaboration among teams working in the GSD. Objective: The objective of this research paper is to identify motivators for adopting social computing in GSD organizations. Method: We adopted a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach by applying customized search strings derived from our research questions. Results: We have identified factors such as real-time communication and coordination, information sharing, knowledge acquisition and expert feedback as key motivators for adoption of social computing in GSD. Conclusion: Based on the SLR results, we suggest that GSD organizations should embrace social computing as a tool for real-time collaboration between distributed GSD teams. The results of this initial study also suggest the need for developing the social computing strategies and policies to guide the effective social computing adoption by GSD teams

The centre for internationalization and usability: enabling culture-centred design for all

The Centre for Internationalisation and Usability within the School of Computing and Technology at The University of West London aims to enhance understanding of cultural differences in international software development. A particular focus is the development and usability of ICT products in a global market, both in terms of international software development and economic, community and social development. We host a number of researchers and PhD students working in topics such as usability evaluation and culture, socio-technical participatory design, internationalization attitudes of software engineers, mobile learning and library cognitive design

The Impact of Process on Virtual Teams: A Comparative Analysis of Waterfall and Agile Software Development Teams

Studies have shown that task type, social context, and time mediates virtual teams (Martins, Gilson, & Maynard, 2004; Townsend, Hendrickson, & DeMarie, 2002), yet no studies have been conducted comparing the process that the virtual teams are using to complete a task. Two global virtual teams from the same corporation who are using two different software development methodologies, waterfall and agile, were compared to understand the impact that process has on virtual teams. Interviews were conducted with both teams and their responses were coded using the constructs in Adaptive Structuration Theory. The results show that the software development process used by a virtual team does impact the team\u27s culture, orientation toward change, and ultimately the quality of the product they are developing. Careful consideration should be made by software development organizations when deciding which development process they should deploy, given the important implications for virtual team dynamics and product outcomes. Studies have shown that task type, social context, and time mediates virtual teams (Martins, Gilson, & Maynard, 2004; Townsend, Hendrickson, & DeMarie, 2002), yet no studies have been conducted comparing the process that the virtual teams are using to complete a task. Two global virtual teams from the same corporation who are using two different software development methodologies, waterfall and agile, were compared to understand the impact that process has on virtual teams. Interviews were conducted with both teams and their responses were coded using the constructs in Adaptive Structuration Theory. The results show that the software development process used by a virtual team does impact the team\u27s culture, orientation toward change, and ultimately the quality of the product they are developing. Careful consideration should be made by software development organizations when deciding which development process they should deploy, given the important implications for virtual team dynamics and product outcomes

Interface Design Practice and Education Towards Mobile Apps Development

AbstractMobile apps development has been gaining popularity in Malaysia over the past 3 years. An app usually refers to a software application or programme. Although the development of software applications have been around for decades, app development on mobile devices reached the shores of Malaysia, mainly due to the popularity of Apple's App Store. Software development and complex object-oriented programming have been the exclusive harbour of technology hobbyists, IT professionals and business executives for many years. The flourishing presence of Web applications and the over-whelming influence of social media has augmented our need for greater connectivity, sharing and online presence. These have allowed smartphones and gadgets to become mainstream. This paper looks at how a design institution in Malaysia provides the growth of mobile apps development, and in supporting the national agenda to drive the Malaysian web and mobile application development industry to global standards. The paper highlights the practice and education of user-centered interface design towards mobile apps development in the country

SimCode: Agent-based Simulation Modelling of Open-Source Software Development

We present an original modeling tool, which can be used to study the mechanisms by which free/libre and open source software developers’ code-writing efforts are allocated within open source projects. It is first described analytically in a discrete choice framework, and then simulated using agent-based experiments. Contributions are added sequentially to either existing modules, or to create new modules out of existing ones: as a consequence, the global emerging architecture forms a hierarchical tree. Choices among modules reflect expectations of peer- regard, i.e. developers are more attracted a) to generic modules, b) to launching new ones, and c) to contributing their work to currently active development sites in the project. In this context, we are able – particularly by allowing for the attractiveness of “hot spots”-- to replicate the high degree of concentration (measured by Gini coefficients) in the distributions of modules sizes. The latter have been found by empirical studies to be a characteristic typical of the code of large projects, such as the Linux kernel. Introducing further a simple social utility function for evaluating the mophology of “software trees,” it turns out that the hypothesized developers’ incentive structure that generates high Gini coefficients is not particularly conducive to producing self-organized software code that yields high utility to end-users who want a large and diverse range of applications. Allowing for a simple governance mechanism by the introduction of maintenance rules reveals that “early release” rules can have a positive effect on the social utility rating of the resulting software trees.

Integrating groupware technology into the learning environment

This paper presents the hard lessons learned from the introduction of groupware technology within a final‐year software engineering module. The module began in 1997 and is now in its fourth year. The paper provides a detailed account of our successes and failures in each year, and describes what the authors now feel is a successful model for integrating groupware into the learning environment. The paper is important because it provides a longitudinal study of the use of groupware within a learning environment and an insight into the key success factors associated with the use of groupware. Success factors relate not only to the technology but also to social factors such as group facilitation and social protocols, to factors associated with monitoring and assessment, and to factors related to the skills development associated with being a member of a global team

The Usage of Object Oriented Approach in Software Development Companies

Object orientation (00) has become a new buzzword for computer applications. Things are touted as being object oriented, with the implication that this is the "new" and "better" way to do things. As there are many approaches used to develop systems, therefore the software industry has to cope with the rapid technological evolution and the global market competition, in order to satisfy the growing user demands for quality, services and bandwidth. This project seeks a review of the status of the object-oriented approach among the software industry. Based on this, I will analyze the awareness of the object-oriented approach among software developers. In addition to this, the level of usage of the object-oriented approach in software development activities will also be examined. The results obtained will be statistically analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences), and discussed later in the light of the literature reviewe