Analyzing GitHub as a Collaborative Software Development Platform: A Systematic Review
Date
2017-04-24
Authors
Reyes López, Arturo
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Abstract
GitHub is a popular social coding site where developers not only host their code
and use git functions, but also use social features to communicate, collaborate, and
be aware of changes and others' activities. This new paradigm to code together, and
the availability of data have given rise to much research studying collaboration from
different angles. However, the vast accumulated knowledge about GitHub tends to
be scattered and fragmented.
The goal of this study is to collect the available research on GitHub that is focused
on identifying the impact of GitHub in software development. The design of the
study includes two sections. First, a systematic search in 7 electronic digital libraries
was conducted using a de fined search protocol, which included a keyword string and
exclusion/inclusion criteria. Second, the extraction of data from each publication and
manual coding was conducted to defi ne categories of knowledge based on research
questions and fi ndings.
The study results show a growing trend in research with an increase in mixed
methodology. The preferred data sources for empirical studies about GitHub are the
GitHub API and GHTorrent in 72.57% of publications. The study reveals that a group
made of 30 researchers publish 45.86% of total research. The research in NorthAmerica
represents 26% of publications. The research on GitHub is focused on the evaluation
of pull requests and use of issues(30.77%), popular projects characteristics
(20.88%), collaboration and transparency (15.38%), developers' roles (9.89%), influence
of popular developers (8.79%), quick-start package with guidelines and datasets
(8.79%), tools to improve contributions and collaboration (4.40%) and other (1.1%).
Description
Keywords
GitHub, Collaboration, Systematic Review