After a relatively busy summer, complete with a move across the mountains, I recently started my PhD with the CHISEL group at UVic. There were many reasons why CHISEL was a good fit for me, especially our shared interest in the Human aspects of Software Engineering, and supporting users and developers.
My supervisor advised me that at the start of any major research undertaking (such as a PhD), it would be a good idea to get a broad understanding of the other research currently going on in this area. Besides just delving into some large sources (Conferences, Google Scholar), we thought it might be interesting to see what other researchers’ favourite papers in this area might be. As a software engineering researcher, I’m interested specifically in software engineering papers, but more specifically, I’m interested in those that focus on the human aspects: What kind of challenges do developers face? How are they limited by today’s tools and methodologies?
So I’m opening this up to whomever reads this. What are your favourite SE papers that deal with the Human Aspects? Maybe it is one that had something new and surprising that you didn’t know, or that you didn’t expect before hand. I’d love to know about your favourite papers, in the comments, or via twitter: @jamiestarke.
Respondents Favourite Paper Links:
- “The secret life of bugs: Going past the errors and omissions in software repositories”, Jorge Aranda and Gina Venolia, ICSE, 2009.
- “Moving into a new software project landscape”, Barthélémy Dagenais et al., ICSE, 2010.
- “An Ethnographic Study of XP Practice”, Helen Sharp and Hugh Robinson, Empirical Software Engineering, 2004.
- “How Software Engineers Use Documentation: The State of the Practice”, Timothy Lethbridge et al., IEEE Software, 2003.
- “‘Good’ Organisational Reasons for ‘Bad’ Software Testing: An Ethnographic Study of Testing in a Small Software Company”, David Martin et al., ICSE, 2007.
- “Does distributed development affect software quality? An empirical case study of Windows Vista”, Christian Bird et al., ICSE, 2009.
- “It’s engineering Jim … but not as we know it: software engineering — solution to the software crisis, or part of the problem?”, Antony Bryant, ICSE, 2000.
- “The structure and value of modularity in software design”, Kevin J. Sullivan et al., FSE, 2001.
- “No Silver Bullet Essence and Accidents of Software Engineering”, Frederick P. Brooks Jr., IEEE Computer, 1987.
- “Psychology of Computer Programming”, Gerald M. Weinberg, 1971.
- “The Secrets of Consulting: Giving and Getting Advice Successfully”, Gerald M. Weinberg, 1985.
- “Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams”, Timothy Lister 1987.
- “Interactive Programming Environments”, David R. Barstow et al., 1984
- “Software Design: Cognitive Aspects”, Françoise Détienne, 2000
Twitter Responses:
- @abramh: Secret life of bugs by Jorge Aranda
- @ctreude: I agree with @abramh. Another recent one I really liked is Moving into a new software project landscape http://bit.ly/dsxXye
- @davema: Moving into a New Software Project Landscape
- @yorchopolis: @ctreude @abramhabramh You’re making me blush guys… @jamiestarke Try Sharp & Robinson’s series of papers on XP in practice, too.
- @yorchopolis: Also: Lethbridge on documentation, Martin on reasons for “bad” software testing, Bird & Nagappan’s ICSE paper…
- @yorchopolis: …and Bryant’s “It’s Engineering Jim…” ICSE 2000 paper. Others may come to mind soon…
- @avandeursen: Didn’t it all start with @JerryWeinberg’s “The Psychology of Computer Programming” (1971)? Great reading!
- @avandeursen: And there’s @JerryWeinberg’s 2nd law/secret of consulting: “No matter how it looks at first, it’s always a people problem”.