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A literature review of agile practices and their effects in scientific software development

Sletholt, Magnus Thorstein ; Hannay, Jo Erskine ; Pfahl, Dietmar LU ; Benestad, Hans Christian and Langtangen, Hans Petter (2011) 4th international workshop on Software engineering for computational science and engineering (SECSE '11) p.1-9
Abstract
The nature of scientific research and the development of scientific software have similarities with processes that follow the agile manifesto: responsiveness to change and collaboration are of the utmost importance. But how well do current scientific software development processes match the practices found in agile development methods, and what are the effects of using agile practices in such processes? In order to investigate this, we conduct a literature review, focusing on evaluating the agility present in a selection of scientific software projects. Both projects with intentionally agile practices and projects with a certain degree of agile elements are taken into consideration. In the agility assessment, we define and utilize an agile... (More)
The nature of scientific research and the development of scientific software have similarities with processes that follow the agile manifesto: responsiveness to change and collaboration are of the utmost importance. But how well do current scientific software development processes match the practices found in agile development methods, and what are the effects of using agile practices in such processes? In order to investigate this, we conduct a literature review, focusing on evaluating the agility present in a selection of scientific software projects. Both projects with intentionally agile practices and projects with a certain degree of agile elements are taken into consideration. In the agility assessment, we define and utilize an agile mapping chart. The elements of the mapping chart are based on Scrum and XP, thus covering two of the most prominent agile reference models. We compared the findings of the literature review to results of a previously conducted survey. The comparison indicates that scientific software development projects adopting agile practices perceive their testing to be better than average. No difference to average projects was perceived regarding requirements-related activities. Future work includes an in-depth case study to further investigate the existence and impact of agility in three large scientific software projects, ultimately aiming at a better understanding of the particularities involved in developing scientific software. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
agile software development, literature review, scientific software, scrum, xp
host publication
[Host publication title missing]
pages
1 - 9
publisher
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
conference name
4th international workshop on Software engineering for computational science and engineering (SECSE '11)
conference location
Waikiki, Honolulu, HI, United States
conference dates
2011-05-28
external identifiers
  • scopus:79959882379
ISBN
978-1-4503-0598-3
DOI
10.1145/1985782.1985784
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c88b2827-ff4a-40fc-ab18-727dd0eb6653 (old id 1978619)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 12:05:40
date last changed
2022-02-28 20:56:10
@inproceedings{c88b2827-ff4a-40fc-ab18-727dd0eb6653,
  abstract     = {{The nature of scientific research and the development of scientific software have similarities with processes that follow the agile manifesto: responsiveness to change and collaboration are of the utmost importance. But how well do current scientific software development processes match the practices found in agile development methods, and what are the effects of using agile practices in such processes? In order to investigate this, we conduct a literature review, focusing on evaluating the agility present in a selection of scientific software projects. Both projects with intentionally agile practices and projects with a certain degree of agile elements are taken into consideration. In the agility assessment, we define and utilize an agile mapping chart. The elements of the mapping chart are based on Scrum and XP, thus covering two of the most prominent agile reference models. We compared the findings of the literature review to results of a previously conducted survey. The comparison indicates that scientific software development projects adopting agile practices perceive their testing to be better than average. No difference to average projects was perceived regarding requirements-related activities. Future work includes an in-depth case study to further investigate the existence and impact of agility in three large scientific software projects, ultimately aiming at a better understanding of the particularities involved in developing scientific software.}},
  author       = {{Sletholt, Magnus Thorstein and Hannay, Jo Erskine and Pfahl, Dietmar and Benestad, Hans Christian and Langtangen, Hans Petter}},
  booktitle    = {{[Host publication title missing]}},
  isbn         = {{978-1-4503-0598-3}},
  keywords     = {{agile software development; literature review; scientific software; scrum; xp}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{1--9}},
  publisher    = {{Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)}},
  title        = {{A literature review of agile practices and their effects in scientific software development}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1985782.1985784}},
  doi          = {{10.1145/1985782.1985784}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}