Helge Pfeiffer will present his work on clarifying what the term software is according to various academic and industrial sources. Detailed information below.
SPEAKER
Helge Pfeiffer, Assistant Professor.
TITLE
What is Software? An Empirical, Descriptive Study of Artifacts
ABSTRACT
The term software is ubiquitous, however, it seems as if neither society in general nor the software engineering community has a clear understanding of what software actually is. Not knowing what precisely software is makes it difficult for other professions, in particular those acquiring and sourcing software from third-parties, to know what precisely they should ask for as delivery. In this talk, I will present results from a recent study (under review) that presents what software is according to various academic and industrial sources. Furthermore, I will present what software is in the “wild” after I have analyzed 23715 software repositories containing more than 13 million artifacts.