The Use of Distributed Version Control Systems in Advanced Programming Courses
Michael Cochez, Ville Isomöttönen, Ville Tirronen, Jonne Itkonen · 2013
Version Control Systems are essential tools in software devel- opment. Educational institutions offering education to future computer scientists should embed the use of such systems in their curricula in or- der to prepare the student for real life situations. The use of a version control system also has several potential benefits for the teacher. The teacher might, for instance, use the tool to monitor students’ progress and to give feedback efficiently. This study analyzes how students used the distributed version control system Git in advanced programming re- lated courses. We also have data from a second year course, which enables us to compare between introductory level and master’s level students. We found out that students do not use the system in an optimal way; they do not commit changes often enough and regard the version control system as file storage. They also often write commitmessages which are mean- ingless. Further, it seems that in group work settings there is usually one dominant user of the system.