Some Problems of Professional End User Developers

Abstract

By the term 'professional end user developers '

Software Development Cultures and Cooperation Problems: A Field Study of the Early Stages of Development of Software for a Scientific Community

“…either on their own or in partnership with software engineers in order to further their own professional goals (Segal 2001(Segal , 2005(Segal , 2007. These field studies have formed the basis for an exploration of the culture (values and customary behaviours) of scientists as professional end-user developers (Segal, 2008a(Segal, , 2008bSegal & Morris, 2008).…”

Some Challenges Facing Scientific Software Developers: The Case of Molecular Biology

“…In her field studies of a variety of scientists developing software in this context, Segal (Segal 2005(Segal , 2007(Segal , 2009) identified a widespread model of software development, which, while it is very successful within the traditional context in which it is usually deployed, does not generally result in software which may be used safely outside of such a context. That is, the developers of such software are not generally concerned with how it might be deployed to address problems other than those for which it was originally intended and so:…”

“…Segal (2007) noted in her field studies the pervasiveness among some scientific communities of the assumption that 'anyone can develop software'. A couple of dangers associated with this assumption are, firstly, that scientists may be appointed to software development teams solely on the basis that they are good scientists in need of funding without any reference to their software experience and skills, and secondly, that funding agencies may provide only enough funding to employ professional software developers at the beginning of their careers (Segal, forthcoming).…”

Blended Training on Scientific Software: A Study on How Scientific Data are Generated

“…Obtaining an in-depth understanding of the software product can enhance the accuracy and reliability of its application (Holton, 2004;Segal, 2005Segal, , 2007Sloan, Macaulay, Forbes, Loynton, & Gregor, 2009;Fischer, 2009Fischer, , 2011Adams, Davies, Collins, & Rogers, 2010). Thus, the problem is that there is a growing need for the identification of a good framework for scientific software training that can help mitigate risk in its applications or interpretations, but there is insufficient literature regarding this topic.…”