The Big Effects of Short-term Efforts: Mentorship and Code Integration in Open Source Scientific Software

Authors

  • Erik H Trainer Carnegie Mellon University
  • Chalalai Chaihirunkarn Carnegie Mellon University
  • James D Herbsleb Carnegie Mellon University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5334/jors.bc

Keywords:

scientific software, open source, mentorship, Summer of Code

Abstract

Scientific progress relies crucially on software, yet in practice there are significant challenges to scientific software production and maintenance. We conducted a case study of a bioinformatics software library called Biopython to investigate the promise of Google Summer of Code (GSoC), a program that pays students to work on open-source projects for the summer, for addressing these challenges. We find three positive outcomes of GSoC in the Biopython community: the addition of new features to the Biopython codebase, training, and personal development. We also find, however, that mentors face several challenges related to GSoC project selection and ranking. We believe that because GSoC provides an occasion to extend the software with capabilities that can be used to produce new knowledge, and to train successive generations of potential contributors to the software, it can play a vital role in the sustainability of open-source scientific software.

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Published

2014-07-09

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 1 (2014)

Section

Issues in Research Software

Categories

License

Copyright (c) 2014 The Author(s)

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