A qualitative study of architectural design issues in DevOps. Issue 5 (30th September 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Shahin, Mojtaba; Rezaei Nasab, Ali; Ali Babar, Muhammad
• Other Names: Steinmacher Igor guestEditor.; Clarke Paul guestEditor.; Tuzun Eray guestEditor.; Britto Ricardo guestEditor.
• Is Part Of: Journal of software. Volume 35:Issue 5(2023)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2021-09-30
• Subjects: continuous delivery -- DevOps -- qualitative study -- software architecture -- Stack Overflow; Software engineering -- Periodicals; Computer software -- Development -- Periodicals; Software maintenance -- Periodicals; 005.1
• DOI: 10.1002/smr.2379
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2047-7473

Abstract

Abstract: Software architecture is critical in succeeding with Development and Operations (DevOps). However, designing software architectures that enable and support DevOps (DevOps‐driven software architectures) is a challenge for organizations. We assert that one of the essential steps towards characterizing DevOps‐driven architectures is to understand architectural design issues raised in DevOps. At the same time, some of the architectural issues that emerge in the DevOps context (and their corresponding architectural practices or tactics) may stem from the context (i.e., domain) and characteristics of software organizations. To this end, we conducted a mixed‐methods study that consists of a qualitative case study of two teams in a company during their DevOps transformation and a content analysis of Stack Overflow and DevOps Stack Exchange posts to understand architectural design issues in DevOps. Our study found eight specific and contextual architectural design issues faced by the two teams and classified architectural design issues discussed in Stack Overflow and DevOps Stack Exchange into 11 groups. Our aggregated results reveal that the main characteristics of DevOps‐driven architectures are being loosely coupled and prioritizing deployability, testability, supportability, and modifiability over other quality attributes. Finally, we discuss some concrete implications for research and practice. Abstract : We identified eight specific and contextual architectural design issues that two teams from a company faced in DevOps. We identified 11 architectural design issue groups in the context of DevOps in Stack Overflow and DevOps Stack Exchange. We characterized DevOps‐driven architectures.