Work practices and challenges in pull-based development

The integrator's perspective

Report (2014)
Department
Software Technology (EEMCS) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2014 The Author(s) . Software Engineering Research Group, Department of Software Technology, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, Delft University of Technology
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Published Date

30-09-2014

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Source:

Technical Report Series TUD-SERG-2014-013

Faculty

Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

Department

Software Technology

Abstract

In the pull-based development model, the integrator has the crucial role of managing and integrating contributions. This work focuses on the role of the integrator and investigates working habits and challenges alike. We set up an exploratory qualitative study involving a large-scale survey involving 749 integrators, to which we add quantitative data from the integrator’s project. Our results provide insights into the factors they consider in their decision making process to accept or reject a contribution. Our key findings are that integrators struggle to maintain the quality of their projects and have difficulties with prioritizing contributions that are to be merged.