Tasktop Technologies (Canada)

Abstract The DevOps movement, which combines software development with information technology operations, enables the more frequent delivery of changes to a software system. Adopting DevOps practices is seen as enabling the ability to deliver more. But is the more that is getting done actually of value to the end user or to the producing organization? In this paper, we describe how the ideas of value streams are being applied to software development and how more systematic handling of features is key to enabling an increased focus on the delivery of value.KeywordsSoftware requirementsValue stream mapsSoftware development productivity

Systematically improving the efficiency of programmers requires understanding what activities occur during programming, which activities are inefficient and then assessing languages, tools and processes proposed to improve the situation. Conducting the experiments required to support a systematic approach is difficult for many reasons, including the lack of availability of experienced programmers and the common belief that individual programmer effectiveness varies greatly. In this paper, we investigate whether generic activity traces of how a programmer interacts with a development environment can help bridge between results gathered in the lab with how programming occurs in the field. We describe the kinds of information that can be gleaned from activity traces, consider whether positive indication of a behaviour seen in the lab translates to data collected from the field, and discuss challenges with gathering appropriate data and with using gathered data appropriately.