Software development processes for games: a systematic literature review

This paper describes the methodology and results from a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of the software processes used in game development. A total of 404 papers were analyzed as part of the review and the various process models that are used in industry and academia/research are presented. Software Process Improvement (SPI) initiatives for game development are dis-cussed. The factors that promote or deter the adoption of process models, and implementing SPI in practice are highlighted. Our findings indicate that there is no single model that serves as a best practice process model for game development and it is a matter of deciding which model is best suited for a particular game. Agile models such as Scrum and XP are suited to the knowledge intensive domain of game development where innovation and speed to market are vital. Hybrid approaches such as reuse can also be suitable for game development where the risk of the upfront investment in terms of time and cost is mitigated with a game that has stable requirements and a longer lifespan

On the Role of Agile Software Development Practices in Software Process Improvement

Tarkvaraarendus on endiselt võrdlemisi uus ja arenev valdkond. Tarkvaraettevõtted on otsinud tarkvara arendusprotsessi parendamist (ingl SPI) aastaid, kuid tegu on mitmekülgse valdkonnaga. Antud magistritöö eesmärk on pakkuda suurt pilti väleda tarkvaraarenduse meetoditest ja tavadest tarkvara arendusprotsessi parendamise kontekstis. Lisaks eelmainitule on antud töö eesmärgiks minna rohkem süvitsi väledate tarkvaraarenduse meetodite alamhulgaga laiahaardelisema kaardistamistöö raames, mis uurib SPI hetkeseisu kirjanduses. Leidmaks vastuseid töös püstitatud uuritavatele küsimustele, viidi antud töö raames läbi süstemaatiline kirjanduse ülevaade. Kirjanduse ülevaate tulemused valideeriti erinevates Eesti tarkvaraettevõtetes viies läbi küsitlusi. Avaldatud teoste, mis hõlmavad tarkvaraarenduse meetodite kasutamist SPI kontekstis aastane avaldamishulk on vaikselt kasvanud aastate jooksul. Kirjandusülevaate tulemused viitavad, et väledate meetodite kasutamine SPI jaoks pole ainult idee. Avaldatud teoste hulgas on võrdlemisi võrdselt teoseid, mis analüüsivad antud teemat idee tasandil ning neid, mis kirjeldavad väledate tarkvaraarenduse meetodite kasutamist ka professionaalses töös. Lisaks sellele viitavad tulemused, et professionaalide jaoks potentsiaalselt kasulikke teoseid on kirjanduses suur kogus. Enimuuritud väleda tarkvaraarenduse meetodid SPI kontekstis on Scrum ning Extreme Programming. Kõige enam mainitakse kirjanduses tavasid nagu pidev integratsioon, kõigepealt testi ning igapäevaste koosolekute pidamine. Kogu uuritud kirjanduses on piisvalt tõendeid tööstusest väledate meetodite kasutamisest SPI tarbeks, mida kinnistavad ka Eestis opereerivates tarkvaraettevõtetes läbiviidud küsitluse tulemused.Software development in general is still a fairly new and evolving field. Software development companies have been looking for software process improvement (SPI) for years, but the field of SPI is a diverse one. The goal of the Master’s thesis at hand is to provide the big picture of the use of agile methodologies along with its practices in the context of SPI within the current literature. Furthermore, the paper at hand aims to provide more insight into the subset of agile practices of a bigger, more general systematic mapping study on the current state of the art of software process improvement. To find answers to the research questions stated in the thesis, systematic literature review was conducted. The results of the literature review were validated by conducting surveys amongst professionals in several Estonian software development companies with varying sizes. The publication rate of papers concerning agile practices in the context of SPI shows a steady rise over the years. Results of the literature review show that the field of agile practices in SPI is fairly evenly balanced regarding being a concept or being adapted and evaluated in the industry. Furthermore, the results indicate that the there are many papers published that are of high relevance to industry professionals. By far the most discussed agile methods in the literature regarding SPI are Scrum and Extreme Programming while the most addressed practices include integrating often, testing first and conducting daily meetings. Within the analysed papers there are plenty of evidence from the industry of using agile methods in SPI. The survey conducted amongst several Estonian companies confirms that the use of agile practices in SPI is a relevant topic and that Scrum being the most popular topic in the literature is not a coincidence

Agile Manifesto and Practices Selection for Tailoring Software Development: A Systematic Literature Review

peer reviewedAgile methods have been largely used for many years to provide developers with a flexible software development process leading to software quality improvement. To get the best results and eliminate unnecessary efforts, the development team should select the most appropriate methods and techniques. The fundamental core of an agile method has to be well-understood before deciding which parts of the method need to be adopted. We believe that the quickest way to do so is to understand the prescripts of the Agile Manifesto. Many researches have proposed different tailoring approaches based on the relation and straight-forward interpretation between each agile practice and agile values or principles. We however have observed that agile practitioners do not dedicate the necessary attention to the Agile Manifesto before adopting agile methods or practices and directly use them. It is because the importance of Agile Manifesto in tailoring context is not obvious enough to the community. This study aims at doing a systematic literature review on the existing case studies, to verify the relation between the Agile Manifesto and agile practice selection

Agile, Web Engineering and Capability Maturity ModelI ntegration : A systematic literature review

Context Agile approaches are an alternative for organizations developing software, particularly for those who develop Web applications. Besides, CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration) models are well-established approaches focused on assessing the maturity of an organization that develops software. Web Engineering is the field of Software Engineering responsible for analyzing and studying the specific characteristics of the Web. The suitability of an Agile approach to help organizations reach a certain CMMI maturity level in Web environments will be very interesting, as they will be able to keep the ability to quickly react and adapt to changes as long as their development processes get mature. Objective This paper responds to whether it is feasible or not, for an organization developing Web systems, to achieve a certain maturity level of the CMMI-DEV model using Agile methods. Method The proposal is analyzed by means of a systematic literature review of the relevant approaches in the field, defining a characterization schema in order to compare them to introduce the current state-of-the-art. Results The results achieved after the systematic literature review are presented, analyzed and compared against the defined schema, extracting relevant conclusions for the different dimensions of the problem: compatibility, compliance, experience, maturity and Web. Conclusion It is concluded that although the definition of an Agile approach to meet the different CMMI maturity levels goals could be possible for an organization developing Web systems, there is still a lack of detailed studies and analysis on the field

Software Reuse in Agile Development Organizations - A Conceptual Management Tool

The reuse of knowledge is considered a major factor for increasing productivity and quality. In the software industry knowledge is embodied in software assets such as code components, functional designs and test cases. This kind of knowledge reuse is also referred to as software reuse. Although the benefits can be substantial, software reuse has never reached its full potential. Organizations are not aware of the different levels of reuse or do not know how to address reuse issues. This paper proposes a conceptual management tool for supporting software reuse. Furthermore the paper presents the findings of the application of the management tool in an agile development organization

Safety-Critical Systems and Agile Development: A Mapping Study

In the last decades, agile methods had a huge impact on how software is developed. In many cases, this has led to significant benefits, such as quality and speed of software deliveries to customers. However, safety-critical systems have widely been dismissed from benefiting from agile methods. Products that include safety critical aspects are therefore faced with a situation in which the development of safety-critical parts can significantly limit the potential speed-up through agile methods, for the full product, but also in the non-safety critical parts. For such products, the ability to develop safety-critical software in an agile way will generate a competitive advantage. In order to enable future research in this important area, we present in this paper a mapping of the current state of practice based on {a mixed method approach}. Starting from a workshop with experts from six large Swedish product development companies we develop a lens for our analysis. We then present a systematic mapping study on safety-critical systems and agile development through this lens in order to map potential benefits, challenges, and solution candidates for guiding future research.Comment: Accepted at Euromicro Conf. on Software Engineering and Advanced Applications 2018, Prague, Czech Republi

A Scrum-based approach to CMMI maturity level 2 in Web Development environments

Scrum has become one of the most popular agile methodologies, either alone or combined with other agile practices. Besides, CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration) is accepted as a suitable model to measure the maturity of the organizations when developing or acquiring software. Although these two approaches are often considered antagonist, the use of an agile approach to reach certain CMMI maturity levels may result beneficial to organizations that develop Web systems, since they would take the advantages of both approaches. In Web community, this union may be very interesting, because agile approaches fits with the special needs of Web development, and they could be a useful tool for companies getting a certain grade of maturity. This work analyzes the goals of CMMI maturity level 2 and the feasibility of achieving them using the practices proposed by Scrum, trying to assess whether the use of this methodology is suitable for meeting the CMMI generic and specific goals or not. Finally, and based on this analysis, this paper raises a possible extension of Scrum, based on agile techniques, to accommodate the CMMI maturity level 2.Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia TIN2010-20057-C03-02Junta de Andalucía TIC-578