The DOI matches its Crossref record; 4 of the 4 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Software systems as complex networks: Structure, function, and evolvability of software collaboration graphs
Open accessAbstract
Software systems emerge from mere keystrokes to form intricate functional networks connecting many collaborating modules, objects, classes, methods, and subroutines. Building on recent advances in the study of complex networks, I have examined software collaboration graphs contained within several open-source software systems, and have found them to reveal scale-free, small-world networks similar to those identified in other technological, sociological, and biological systems. I present several measures of these network topologies, and discuss their relationship to software engineering practices. I also present a simple model of software system evolution based on refactoring processes which captures some of the salient features of the observed systems. Some implications of object-oriented design for questions about network robustness, evolvability, degeneracy, and organization are discussed in the wake of these findings.
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Cites
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Ravasz, E., Somera, A. L., Mongru, D. A., Oltvai, Z. N., & Barabási, A.-L. (2002) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1073374 · Cited by 4,224
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Cited by
The evolutionary ecology of technological innovations
Solée, R. V., Valverde, S., Casals, M. R., Kauffman, S. A., Farmer, D., & Eldredge, N. (2013) · Complexity · doi:10.1002/cplx.21436 · Cited by 140
Focus-shifting patterns of OSS developers and their congruence with call graphs
Xuan, Q., Okano, A., Devanbu, P., & Filkov, V. (2014) · Proceedings of the 22nd ACM SIGSOFT International Symposium on Foundations of Software Engineering · doi:10.1145/2635868.2635914 · Cited by 27
Convergent Evolutionary Paths in Biological and Technological Networks
Solé, R. V., Valverde, S., & Rodriguez-Caso, C. (2011) · Evolution: Education and Outreach · doi:10.1007/s12052-011-0346-1 · Cited by 20
Metadata
- Authors
- Myers, C. R.
- Venue
- Physical Review E
- Publisher
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Published
- 2003-10-20
- Volume
- 68
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 046116-046116
- ISSN
- 1063-651X (ISSN-L)
- 1095-3787
- OpenAlex
- W2145416273
- Cited by
- 456
- References
- 4
- FWCI
- 19.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
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- Myers, C. R. (2003). Software systems as complex networks: Structure, function, and evolvability of software collaboration graphs. Physical Review E. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreve.68.046116
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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
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