Data visualisation in continuous integration and delivery: Information needs, challenges, and recommendations

Abstract Several operations, ranging from regular code updates to compiling, building, testing, and distribution to customers, are consolidated in continuous integration and delivery. Professionals seek additional information to complete the mission at hand during these tasks. Developers who devote...

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Main Authors: Azeem Ahmad, Ola Leifler, Kristian Sandahl
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2022-06-01
Series:IET Software
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1049/sfw2.12030
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author Azeem Ahmad
Ola Leifler
Kristian Sandahl
author_facet Azeem Ahmad
Ola Leifler
Kristian Sandahl
author_sort Azeem Ahmad
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Several operations, ranging from regular code updates to compiling, building, testing, and distribution to customers, are consolidated in continuous integration and delivery. Professionals seek additional information to complete the mission at hand during these tasks. Developers who devote a large amount of time and effort to finding such information may become distracted from their work. We will better understand the processes, procedures, and resources used to deliver a quality product on time by defining the types of information that software professionals seek. A deeper understanding of software practitioners' information needs has many advantages, including remaining competitive, growing knowledge of issues that can stymie a timely update, and creating a visualisation tool to assist practitioners in addressing their information needs. This is an extension of a previous work done by the authors. The authors conducted a multiple‐case holistic study with six different companies (38 unique participants) to identify information needs in continuous integration and delivery. This study attempts to capture the importance, frequency, required effort (e.g. sequence of actions required to collect information), current approach to handling, and associated stakeholders with respect to identified needs. 27 information needs associated with different stakeholders (i.e. developers, testers, project managers, release team, and compliance authority) were identified. The identified needs were categorised as testing, code & commit, confidence, bug, and artefacts. Apart from identifying information needs, practitioners face several challenges in developing visualisation tools. Thus, 8 challenges that were faced by the practitioners to develop/maintain visualisation tools for the software team were identified. The recommendations from practitioners who are experts in developing, maintaining, and providing visualisation services to the software team were listed.
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spelling doaj-art-33dea6bec75a40bba9a9be0998e113dd2025-02-03T06:47:25ZengWileyIET Software1751-88061751-88142022-06-0116333134910.1049/sfw2.12030Data visualisation in continuous integration and delivery: Information needs, challenges, and recommendationsAzeem Ahmad0Ola Leifler1Kristian Sandahl2Department of Computer Science Linköping University Linköping SwedenDepartment of Computer Science Linköping University Linköping SwedenDepartment of Computer Science Linköping University Linköping SwedenAbstract Several operations, ranging from regular code updates to compiling, building, testing, and distribution to customers, are consolidated in continuous integration and delivery. Professionals seek additional information to complete the mission at hand during these tasks. Developers who devote a large amount of time and effort to finding such information may become distracted from their work. We will better understand the processes, procedures, and resources used to deliver a quality product on time by defining the types of information that software professionals seek. A deeper understanding of software practitioners' information needs has many advantages, including remaining competitive, growing knowledge of issues that can stymie a timely update, and creating a visualisation tool to assist practitioners in addressing their information needs. This is an extension of a previous work done by the authors. The authors conducted a multiple‐case holistic study with six different companies (38 unique participants) to identify information needs in continuous integration and delivery. This study attempts to capture the importance, frequency, required effort (e.g. sequence of actions required to collect information), current approach to handling, and associated stakeholders with respect to identified needs. 27 information needs associated with different stakeholders (i.e. developers, testers, project managers, release team, and compliance authority) were identified. The identified needs were categorised as testing, code & commit, confidence, bug, and artefacts. Apart from identifying information needs, practitioners face several challenges in developing visualisation tools. Thus, 8 challenges that were faced by the practitioners to develop/maintain visualisation tools for the software team were identified. The recommendations from practitioners who are experts in developing, maintaining, and providing visualisation services to the software team were listed.https://doi.org/10.1049/sfw2.12030data visualisationproject managementsoftware development managementknowledge managementsoftware tools
spellingShingle Azeem Ahmad
Ola Leifler
Kristian Sandahl
Data visualisation in continuous integration and delivery: Information needs, challenges, and recommendations
IET Software
data visualisation
project management
software development management
knowledge management
software tools
title Data visualisation in continuous integration and delivery: Information needs, challenges, and recommendations
title_full Data visualisation in continuous integration and delivery: Information needs, challenges, and recommendations
title_fullStr Data visualisation in continuous integration and delivery: Information needs, challenges, and recommendations
title_full_unstemmed Data visualisation in continuous integration and delivery: Information needs, challenges, and recommendations
title_short Data visualisation in continuous integration and delivery: Information needs, challenges, and recommendations
title_sort data visualisation in continuous integration and delivery information needs challenges and recommendations
topic data visualisation
project management
software development management
knowledge management
software tools
url https://doi.org/10.1049/sfw2.12030
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