Version control system gamification: A proposal to encourage the engagement of developers to collaborate in software projects

Abstract

This paper proposes to use gamification for recognition of software developers' collaboration and commitment. In order to improve productivity, the paper also evaluates the users' engagement in a software development project. The idea is to use the information extracted from source repositories where developers realize their commits. A tool proposes ranking via news feed that will extract information from the source repository by using software engineering metrics, such as McCabe's cyclomatic complexity, in order to build a ranking system, which highlights and rewards the most active developers. The ultimate goal is to determine whether the use of gamification encourages collaboration and commitment of all involved in software development projects. © 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland.