Analyzing the Death of Software Ecosystems for Web Platforms through a Social Network Approach and Resource Recycling

• Pedro Arantes UFMS
• Awdren Fontão UFMS

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/cbsoft_estendido.2023.235901

Abstract

Software Ecosystems (SECO) depend on platforms that serve as environments for developers’ interaction, as the StackOverflow and the GitHub. If the keystone does not support the synergy between organizational goals and developers’ expectations, the SECO may die. The death results from suspending vital activities, such as software evolution and maintenance. When a SECO dies, the corporation loses resources invested, and the developers lose work, learning, and experience gained. This paper reports a GitHub study focusing on three web SECOs: AngularJS, PhantomJS, and MomentJS. We analyze metrics based on developer community engagement, collaboration, and resource recycling to understand what happens in these SECOs before, during, and after the platform’s death.

Keywords: Software Ecosystems and Systems of Systems, Software Repository Mining and Software Analysis, Software Reuse

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