Collaboration analysis in global software development

• Vitor A. C. Horta Federal University of Juiz de Fora
• Victor Ströele Federal University of Juiz de Fora https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6296-8605
• Jonice Oliveira Federal University of Rio de Janeiro https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2495-1463
• Regina Braga Federal University of Juiz de Fora
• José Maria David Federal University of Juiz de Fora
• Fernanda Cláudia Campos Federal University of Juiz de Fora

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/sbbd.2018.22226

Abstract

The global open source software development popularity motivates the search for experts with capability of helping other developers in solving complex tasks. The challenge is: given a task, how to identify an expert (or set of experts) to execute it? This problem is named the expert-location problem. Some of these search difficulties are the large amount of data, the lack of technical details about the candidates and the different levels of collaboration. This work aims to detect experts and to identify groups with experienced members in some topics in Q&A forums. To achieve these goals the StackOverflow forum was used and modeled as a complex network. The presented method uses NetSCAN algorithm to detect overlapping communities in social networks. Through a temporal analysis the developers’ skills were revealed. It was also found out that some users are changing their interests over time. The evaluation was conducted through a viability analysis by comparing the scores of the answers given by experts (indicated by the proposed method) and by common users.

Keywords: Collaboration, open source software, temporal analysis, aptitude, locating experts

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