Dimensions of Software Configuration: On the Configuration Context in Modern Software Development
With the rise of containerization, cloud development, and continuous integration and delivery, configuration has become an essential aspect not only to tailor software to user requirements, but also to configure a software system’s environment and infrastructure. This heterogeneity of activities, domains, and processes blurs the term configuration, as it is not clear anymore what tasks, artifacts, or stakeholders are involved and intertwined. However, each re- search study and each paper involving configuration places their contributions and findings in a certain context without making the context explicit. This makes it difficult to compare findings, translate them to practice, and to generalize the results. Thus, we set out to evaluate whether these different views on configuration are really distinct or can be summarized under a common umbrella. By interviewing practitioners from different domains and in different roles about the aspects of configuration and by analyzing two qualitative studies in similar areas, we derive a model of configuration that provides terminology and context for research studies, identifies new research opportunities, and allows practitioners to spot possible challenges in their current tasks. Although our interviewees have a clear view about configuration, it substantially differs due to their personal experience and role. This indicates that the term configuration might be overloaded. However, when taking a closer look, we see the interconnections and dependencies among all views, arriving at the conclusion that we need to start considering the entire spectrum of dimensions of configuration.
Tue 10 NovDisplayed time zone: (UTC) Coordinated Universal Time change
17:00 - 17:30 | |||
17:00 2mTalk | Configuration Smells in Continuous Delivery Pipelines: A Linter and a Six-Month Study on GitLab Research Papers Carmine Vassallo University of Zurich, Switzerland, Sebastian Proksch Delft University of Technology, Netherlands, Anna Jancso University of Zurich, Switzerland, Harald Gall University of Zurich, Switzerland, Massimiliano Di Penta University of Sannio, Italy DOI Pre-print | ||
17:03 1mTalk | Dimensions of Software Configuration: On the Configuration Context in Modern Software Development Research Papers Norbert Siegmund Bauhaus-University Weimar, Nicolai Ruckel Bauhaus-University Weimar, Janet Siegmund TU Chemnitz, Germany DOI | ||
17:05 1mTalk | Global Cost/Quality Management across Multiple Applications Research Papers Liu Liu Rutgers University, USA, Sibren Isaacman Loyola University Maryland, USA, Uli Kremer Rutgers University, USA DOI | ||
17:07 1mTalk | Inferring and Securing Software Configurations using Automated Reasoning Visions and Reflections Paul Gazzillo University of Central Florida DOI | ||
17:09 1mTalk | Understanding and Discovering Software Configuration Dependencies in Cloud and Datacenter Systems Research Papers Qingrong Chen University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, Teng Wang National University of Defense Technology, China, Owolabi Legunsen Cornell University, Shanshan Li National University of Defense Technology, China, Tianyin Xu University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA DOI | ||
17:11 19mTalk | Conversations on Configuration Paper Presentations Carmine Vassallo University of Zurich, Switzerland, Liu Liu Rutgers University, Nicolai Ruckel Bauhaus-University Weimar, Paul Gazzillo University of Central Florida, Qingrong Chen University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, M: Sarah Nadi University of Alberta |