Lifecycle group of Dagstuhl 24161

Research Software: Towards Categories and Lifecycles

(An initial attempt at) Defining Lifecycles and Categories of Research Software

Abstract

There is a huge variety of types of research software, at different stages of evolution. This often confuses potential software users, developers, funders, and other stakeholders who need to understand a particular software project, such as when deciding to use them, contribute to them, or fund them. We present work performed by a group consisting of both software engineering researchers (SERs) and research software engineers (RSEs), who met at a Dagstuhl seminar. It includes an initial categorization of research software types, and an initial presentation of an abstract research software lifecycle that can be applied and customized to suit a wide variety of research software types, which then can be used to make decisions and guide development standards that may vary per stage. We also seek community input on improvements of these two artifacts for future iterations.

In addition, because terminologies and definitions often vary, e.g., one person may consider a software project to be early-stage or in “maintenance mode”, whilst another project might consider the same software to be inactive or failed. Because of this, we explore and explains concepts such as software maturity, intended audience, and intended future use.

Authors

• Yo Yehudi
  • [email protected]
  • https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2705-1724
  • github: @yochannah
  • Affiliation: OLS, Manchester, UK
• Mikaela Cashman: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0620-7830
  • github: @mikacashman
  • Note: I do not publish under McDevitt
  • affiliation: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA
  • affiliation (line 2 if applicable): Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology - Biosciences Division
• Michael Felderer
  • https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3818-4442
  • Affiliation: German Aerospace Center (DLR) & University of Cologne, Germany
• Michael Goedicke
  • goedigit
  • University of Duisburg-Essen / paluno and NFDIxCS, Germany
  • https://orcid.org/0009-0004-2383-6764
• Wilhelm Hasselbring
  • https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6625-4335
  • github: @whasselbring
  • Affiliation: Kiel University, Germany
• Daniel S. Katz:
  • https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5934-7525
  • github: @danielskatz
  • Affiliation: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA
• Frank Löffler
  • https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6643-6323
  • github: knarrff
  • Affiliation: Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Jena, Germany
• Sebastian Müller: ​​
  • https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3057-1125
  • github: @muelerse
  • Affiliation: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany
• Bernhard Rumpe
  • https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2147-1966
  • github: @rumpe
  • Affiliation: RWTH Aachen University, Germany