The Quest for Productivity in Software Engineering: A Practitioners Systematic Literature Review
Carlos Henrique C. Duarte · 2019
Software productivity is perceived by practitioners as one of the most important subjects of Software Engineering (SE), because it establishes a connection between technical and economic concerns. Nonetheless, software processes are complex and productivity means different things to different people. In order to realize the full contribution of productivity research to the practice of SE, the compilation and analysis of the diverse practitioner viewpoints and concerns is required. In this paper, we develop a systematic literature review to confirm the existence of different empirical perceptions of productivity from the distinct business sectors and knowledge areas covered in practice by SE, identifying also commonalities that may exist. This review was compiled by analyzing 73 papers on empirical studies published from 1987 to 2017. The review found great variability of study findings, particularly concerning the impacts of agile and hybrid development practices on software productivity, and research gaps that could be investigated in the future.