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PDFOpen Access (License Unspecified), Open Access
Thesis
Capturing design context in distributed communication of software engineers
Master of Science (M.S.), Drexel University
Sep 2001
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/etd-94
Abstract
Software engineering is a knowledge-intensive activity. It requires developers be aware of changing requirements, involvement of others, and the overall status of the project. Code, as the embodiment of developers' intent, does not represent all knowledge required to work on the project successfully. Even in projects with the best software process practices, where requirement and design documents, bug databases, and source control software are kept up-to-date, most knowledge is still contained within the developers themselves. Once a person leaves the organization, his/her knowledge is lost. This problem is even more acute in open-source projects where developers communicate almost exclusively remotely and usually many more people are involved for shorter periods of time. This problem is formulated and techniques are presented that aim to retain knowledge accumulated in software projects. The general technique I present here is based on the observation that communication between designers contains a great deal of relevant information that can be harvested and archived for the purpose of being used in the future. We introduce a tool called Code Link which enables developers to exchange code references through email. These exchanges are archives and a search interface to the archive is provided. This approach enhances communication with context specific information and enables extended search capabilities. The implementation details are discussed and future improvements are outlined. The results of the user study to show the feasibility of this approach are described.
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Details
- Title
- Capturing design context in distributed communication of software engineers
- Creators
- Vera Zaychik - DU
- Contributors
- William Clement Regli (Advisor) - Drexel University (1970-)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Master of Science (M.S.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- College of Engineering (1970-2026); Electrical (and Computer) Engineering [Historical]; Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 94; 991014632162404721