Desafios e soluções na documentação em projetos de software livre e de código aberto: um mapeamento sistemático da literatura

Abstract

Software documentation proves to be a fundamental process for the development of quality software, as it helps interested parties to use, understand, maintain and implement software productively. However, when investigating the context of free and open source software projects (in English, free and open-source software or FOSS), unique particularities can be seen which demand singular attention, such as For example, due to the fact that there is a voluntary nature with employees coming and going on a recurring basis, diversity of experiences, etc. Therefore, through Systematic Literature Mapping (MSL), this work aims to map, based on the last ten years of scientific research (published between 2013 and 2023), the challenges and solutions in relation to software documentation in FOSS projects . From an initial set of 1271 articles, 12 primary studies were identified for which it was possible to extract five challenges (collaboration, quality, incompleteness, maintainability and categorization) and three general perspectives of investigated solutions (Strategic Use of README, Adoption of Artificial Intelligence and Supporting Tools and Approaches). As academic contributions, this research offers an MSL revealing a set of challenges and solutions related to software documentation, a topic still little explored in the context of FOSS research. From a practical point of view, this work promotes reflection on the use of documentation in FOSS projects, reflecting challenges and solutions that can contribute to improving the quality of documentation in FOSS projects.