Approaches for Documentation in Continuous Software Development
It is common practice for practitioners in industry as well as for ICT/CS students to keep writing – and reading – about software products to a bare minimum. However, refraining from documentation may result in severe issues concerning the vaporization of knowledge regarding decisions made during t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Riga Technical University Press
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Complex Systems Informatics and Modeling Quarterly |
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| Online Access: | https://csimq-journals.rtu.lv/article/view/5968 |
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| author | Theo Theunissen Stijn Hoppenbrouwers Sietse Overbeek |
| author_facet | Theo Theunissen Stijn Hoppenbrouwers Sietse Overbeek |
| author_sort | Theo Theunissen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | It is common practice for practitioners in industry as well as for ICT/CS students to keep writing – and reading – about software products to a bare minimum. However, refraining from documentation may result in severe issues concerning the vaporization of knowledge regarding decisions made during the phases of design, build, and maintenance. In this article, we distinguish between knowledge required upfront to start a project or iteration, knowledge required to complete a project or iteration, and knowledge required to operate and maintain software products. With `knowledge', we refer to actionable information. We propose three approaches to keep up with modern development methods to prevent the risk of knowledge vaporization in software projects. These approaches are `Just Enough Upfront' documentation, `Executable Knowledge', and `Automated Text Analytics' to help record, substantiate, manage and retrieve design decisions in the aforementioned phases. The main characteristic of `Just Enough Upfront' documentation is that knowledge required upfront includes shaping thoughts/ideas, a codified interface description between (sub)systems, and a plan. For building the software and making maximum use of progressive insights, updating the specifications is sufficient. Knowledge required by others to use, operate and maintain the product includes a detailed design and accountability of results. `Executable Knowledge' refers to any executable artifact except the source code. Primary artifacts include Test Driven Development methods and infrastructure-as-code, including continuous integration scripts. A third approach concerns `Automated Text Analysis' using Text Mining and Deep Learning to retrieve design decisions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6e886a9ccdb54b52a143c10f6a34b809 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2255-9922 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | Riga Technical University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Complex Systems Informatics and Modeling Quarterly |
| spelling | doaj-art-6e886a9ccdb54b52a143c10f6a34b8092025-08-20T03:33:57ZengRiga Technical University PressComplex Systems Informatics and Modeling Quarterly2255-99222022-10-0103212710.7250/csimq.2022-32.012950Approaches for Documentation in Continuous Software DevelopmentTheo Theunissen0Stijn Hoppenbrouwers1Sietse Overbeek2Department of ICT, HAN University of Applied Sciences, ArnhemDepartment of ICT, HAN University of Applied Sciences, Arnhem and Radboud University, Institute for Computing and Information Sciences, NijmegenDepartment of Information and Computing Sciences, Utrecht University, UtrechtIt is common practice for practitioners in industry as well as for ICT/CS students to keep writing – and reading – about software products to a bare minimum. However, refraining from documentation may result in severe issues concerning the vaporization of knowledge regarding decisions made during the phases of design, build, and maintenance. In this article, we distinguish between knowledge required upfront to start a project or iteration, knowledge required to complete a project or iteration, and knowledge required to operate and maintain software products. With `knowledge', we refer to actionable information. We propose three approaches to keep up with modern development methods to prevent the risk of knowledge vaporization in software projects. These approaches are `Just Enough Upfront' documentation, `Executable Knowledge', and `Automated Text Analytics' to help record, substantiate, manage and retrieve design decisions in the aforementioned phases. The main characteristic of `Just Enough Upfront' documentation is that knowledge required upfront includes shaping thoughts/ideas, a codified interface description between (sub)systems, and a plan. For building the software and making maximum use of progressive insights, updating the specifications is sufficient. Knowledge required by others to use, operate and maintain the product includes a detailed design and accountability of results. `Executable Knowledge' refers to any executable artifact except the source code. Primary artifacts include Test Driven Development methods and infrastructure-as-code, including continuous integration scripts. A third approach concerns `Automated Text Analysis' using Text Mining and Deep Learning to retrieve design decisions.https://csimq-journals.rtu.lv/article/view/5968agiledocumentationexecutable knowledgejust enough upfrontmachine learningnatural language processing |
| spellingShingle | Theo Theunissen Stijn Hoppenbrouwers Sietse Overbeek Approaches for Documentation in Continuous Software Development Complex Systems Informatics and Modeling Quarterly agile documentation executable knowledge just enough upfront machine learning natural language processing |
| title | Approaches for Documentation in Continuous Software Development |
| title_full | Approaches for Documentation in Continuous Software Development |
| title_fullStr | Approaches for Documentation in Continuous Software Development |
| title_full_unstemmed | Approaches for Documentation in Continuous Software Development |
| title_short | Approaches for Documentation in Continuous Software Development |
| title_sort | approaches for documentation in continuous software development |
| topic | agile documentation executable knowledge just enough upfront machine learning natural language processing |
| url | https://csimq-journals.rtu.lv/article/view/5968 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT theotheunissen approachesfordocumentationincontinuoussoftwaredevelopment AT stijnhoppenbrouwers approachesfordocumentationincontinuoussoftwaredevelopment AT sietseoverbeek approachesfordocumentationincontinuoussoftwaredevelopment |