Investigating developers' email discussions during decision-making in Python language evolution

Pankajeshwara Sharma; Bastin Tony Roy Savarimuthu; Nigel Stanger; Sherlock A. Licorish; Austen Rainer

doi:10.1145/3084226.3084271

Investigating developers' email discussions during decision-making in Python language evolution

Pankajeshwara Sharma, Bastin Tony Roy Savarimuthu, Nigel Stanger, Sherlock A. Licorish, Austen Rainer

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Context: Open Source Software (OSS) developers use mailing lists as their main forum for discussing the evolution of a project. However, the use of mailing lists by developers for decision-making has not received much research attention. Objective: We have explored this issue by studying developers' email discussions around Python Enhancement Proposals (PEPs). Method: Our dataset comprised 42,672 emails from six different mailing lists pertaining to PEP development. We performed multiple forms of analysis on these emails, involving both quantitative measures (e.g., frequency) and deeper analysis of specific PEP discussions (i.e., outlier analysis). Results: Out of three PEP types (Informational, Process and Standard Track), Standard Track PEPs attract a large amount of discussion (both in volume and average number of messages per proposal). Our study also identified specific PEP states and topics that generated a disproportionate amount of discussion. Conclusion: Our outcomes point to several opportunities for improving the management of an OSS team based on the knowledge generated from discussions. We have also identified several interesting avenues for future work such as identifying individuals or groups that present persuasive arguments during decision-making.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering, EASE 2017
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery
Pages	286-291
Number of pages	6
Volume	Part F128635
ISBN (Electronic)	9781450348041
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3084226.3084271
Publication status	Published - 15 Jun 2017
Externally published	Yes
Event	21st International Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering, EASE 2017 - Karlskrona, Sweden Duration: 15 Jun 2017 → 16 Jun 2017

Conference

Conference	21st International Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering, EASE 2017
Country	Sweden
City	Karlskrona
Period	15/06/2017 → 16/06/2017

Keywords

Decision-making
Email discussions
Python development

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Human-Computer Interaction
Computer Networks and Communications
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Software

Access to Document

10.1145/3084226.3084271

Link to publication in Scopus

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Cite this

Sharma, P., Savarimuthu, B. T. R., Stanger, N., Licorish, S. A., & Rainer, A. (2017). Investigating developers' email discussions during decision-making in Python language evolution. In Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering, EASE 2017 (Vol. Part F128635, pp. 286-291). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3084226.3084271

Sharma, Pankajeshwara ; Savarimuthu, Bastin Tony Roy ; Stanger, Nigel ; Licorish, Sherlock A. ; Rainer, Austen. / Investigating developers' email discussions during decision-making in Python language evolution. Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering, EASE 2017. Vol. Part F128635 Association for Computing Machinery, 2017. pp. 286-291

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abstract = "Context: Open Source Software (OSS) developers use mailing lists as their main forum for discussing the evolution of a project. However, the use of mailing lists by developers for decision-making has not received much research attention. Objective: We have explored this issue by studying developers' email discussions around Python Enhancement Proposals (PEPs). Method: Our dataset comprised 42,672 emails from six different mailing lists pertaining to PEP development. We performed multiple forms of analysis on these emails, involving both quantitative measures (e.g., frequency) and deeper analysis of specific PEP discussions (i.e., outlier analysis). Results: Out of three PEP types (Informational, Process and Standard Track), Standard Track PEPs attract a large amount of discussion (both in volume and average number of messages per proposal). Our study also identified specific PEP states and topics that generated a disproportionate amount of discussion. Conclusion: Our outcomes point to several opportunities for improving the management of an OSS team based on the knowledge generated from discussions. We have also identified several interesting avenues for future work such as identifying individuals or groups that present persuasive arguments during decision-making.",

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author = "Pankajeshwara Sharma and Savarimuthu, {Bastin Tony Roy} and Nigel Stanger and Licorish, {Sherlock A.} and Austen Rainer",

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Sharma, P, Savarimuthu, BTR, Stanger, N, Licorish, SA & Rainer, A 2017, Investigating developers' email discussions during decision-making in Python language evolution. in Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering, EASE 2017. vol. Part F128635, Association for Computing Machinery, pp. 286-291, 21st International Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering, EASE 2017, Karlskrona, Sweden, 15/06/2017. https://doi.org/10.1145/3084226.3084271

Investigating developers' email discussions during decision-making in Python language evolution. / Sharma, Pankajeshwara; Savarimuthu, Bastin Tony Roy; Stanger, Nigel; Licorish, Sherlock A.; Rainer, Austen.

Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering, EASE 2017. Vol. Part F128635 Association for Computing Machinery, 2017. p. 286-291.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

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AB - Context: Open Source Software (OSS) developers use mailing lists as their main forum for discussing the evolution of a project. However, the use of mailing lists by developers for decision-making has not received much research attention. Objective: We have explored this issue by studying developers' email discussions around Python Enhancement Proposals (PEPs). Method: Our dataset comprised 42,672 emails from six different mailing lists pertaining to PEP development. We performed multiple forms of analysis on these emails, involving both quantitative measures (e.g., frequency) and deeper analysis of specific PEP discussions (i.e., outlier analysis). Results: Out of three PEP types (Informational, Process and Standard Track), Standard Track PEPs attract a large amount of discussion (both in volume and average number of messages per proposal). Our study also identified specific PEP states and topics that generated a disproportionate amount of discussion. Conclusion: Our outcomes point to several opportunities for improving the management of an OSS team based on the knowledge generated from discussions. We have also identified several interesting avenues for future work such as identifying individuals or groups that present persuasive arguments during decision-making.

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Sharma P, Savarimuthu BTR, Stanger N, Licorish SA, Rainer A. Investigating developers' email discussions during decision-making in Python language evolution. In Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering, EASE 2017. Vol. Part F128635. Association for Computing Machinery. 2017. p. 286-291 https://doi.org/10.1145/3084226.3084271