Background: Sustainable software engineering (SSE) means creating software in a way that meets present needs without undermining our collective capacity to meet our future needs. It is typically conceptualized as several intersecting dimensions or ``pillars'' -- environmental, social, economic, technical and individual. However; these pillars are theoretically underdeveloped and require refinement. Objectives: The objective of this paper is to generate a better theory of SSE. Method: First, a scoping review was conducted to understand the state of research on SSE and identify existing models thereof. Next, a meta-synthesis of qualitative research on SSE was conducted to critique and improve the existing models identified. Results: 961 potentially relevant articles were extracted from five article databases. These articles were de-duplicated and then screened independently by two screeners, leaving 243 articles to examine. Of these, 109 were non-empirical, the most common empirical method was systematic review, and no randomized controlled experiments were found. Most papers focus on ecological sustainability (158) and the sustainability of software products (148) rather than processes. A meta-synthesis of 36 qualitative studies produced several key propositions, most notably, that sustainability is stratified (has different meanings at different levels of abstraction) and multisystemic (emerges from interactions among multiple social, technical, and sociotechnical systems). Conclusion: The academic literature on SSE is surprisingly non-empirical. More empirical evaluations of specific sustainability interventions are needed. The sustainability of software development products and processes should be conceptualized as multisystemic and stratified, and assessed accordingly.
翻译:可持续软件工程(SSE)是指以既满足当前需要又不损害我们满足未来需要的集体能力的方式创建软件。通常,它的概念化为几个交叉层面或“支柱”-环境、社会、经济、技术和个人。然而,这些支柱在理论上欠发达,需要加以完善。目标:本文件的目标是产生一个更好的SSE理论。方法:首先,进行了范围审查,以了解SSE研究现状并确定现有模型。接着,对SSE的定性研究进行了元系统综合,以批评和改进已经查明的现有模型。结果:从五个文章数据库提取了961种潜在相关文章。这些文章被复制,然后由两个屏幕独立筛选者独立筛选,留下243篇文章供审查。其中109篇是非灵敏的,最常用的经验方法是系统审查,没有找到随机控制的实验。大多数文件的重点是生态可持续性(158)和软件产品的可持续性(148),而不是进程。对36个质量研究的元化系统进行了综合,从5个文章数据库中提取了96种可能相关的文章。 最明显的是,社会-系统的可持续性是不同意义上的多层次的、不同含义。