Code, Camera, Action!: How Software Developers Document and Share Program Knowledge Using YouTube

dc.contributor.authorMacLeod, Laura
dc.contributor.supervisorStorey, Margaret-Anne
dc.contributor.supervisorCoady, Yvonne
dc.date.accessioned2015-04-30T22:54:24Z
dc.date.available2015-04-30T22:54:24Z
dc.date.copyright2015en_US
dc.date.issued2015-04-30
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of Computer Scienceen_US
dc.degree.levelMaster of Science M.Sc.en_US
dc.description.abstractCreating documentation is a challenging task in software engineering and most techniques involve the laborious and sometimes tedious job of writing text. This thesis explores an alternative to traditional text-based documentation, the screencast, which captures a developer’s screen while they narrate how a program or software tool works. This thesis presents a study investigating how developers produce and share developer-focused screencasts using the YouTube social platform. First, a set of development screencasts were identified and analyzed to determine how developers have adapted to the medium to meet the demands of development-related documen- tation needs. These videos raised questions regarding the techniques and strategies used for sharing software knowledge. Second, screencast producers were interviewed to understand their motivations for creating screencasts, and to uncover the perceived benefits and challenges in producing code-focused videos. From this study a theory was developed describing the techniques used by devel- opers in screencasts. This thesis also discusses YouTube’s role in the social developer ecosystem, and presents a list of best practices for future screencast creators. This work lays the groundwork for future studies exploring how screencasts can play a role in sharing software development knowledge.en_US
dc.description.proquestcode0984en_US
dc.description.proquestemaillmacleod@uvic.caen_US
dc.description.scholarlevelGraduateen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1828/6107
dc.languageEnglisheng
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/*
dc.subjectScreencasten_US
dc.subjectYouTubeen_US
dc.subjectWalkthroughen_US
dc.subjectSoftware Developmenten_US
dc.titleCode, Camera, Action!: How Software Developers Document and Share Program Knowledge Using YouTubeen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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