Software development based on collective intelligence on the Internet: feasibility, state-of-the-practice, and challenges
Wei Zhang, Hong Mei · Scientia Sinica Informationis · 2017
We are undergoing a revolution in the field of software engineering. In this revolution, the Internet plays a dual role: on one hand, the Internet provides an open, dynamic, and constantly changing environment for software, and greatly increases the scale and complexity of various software, bringing about challenges to the area of software engineering; on the other hand, based on the two roles of internet-of-computersand internet-of-things, the Internet is gradually exhibiting an entirely new role called internet-of-intelligences, and is facilitating the rapid growth of collective intelligence in diverse fields, providing opportunities to develop creative solutions to cope with the essential difficulties of software engineering. In this paper, we provide a brief introduction and analysis to software development based on collective intelligence on the Internet, from the three aspects of feasibility, state of the practice, and problems and challenges. We also demonstrate our preliminary thinking regarding the ideal form of software development based on collective intelligence on the Internet. We hope this study could provide a valuable viewpoint for software engineering researchers to understand the current and future status of software development in the context of the Internet, and provide some possible useful options to facilitate the creative development of software engineering.