Distributed Software Development Literature Distribution Dimensions in Software Development Projects: a Taxonomy Global Software Development

are distributed in different ways and face particular challenges. Some researchers focus on problems of global distribution and related lessons learned,4,5 whereas others emphasize distribution as an advantage in software development that speeds the development process—for example, in OSS projects.6 However diverse the project and whatever the perceived benefits or drawbacks, understanding the underlying distribution phenomenon is crucial to analyzing existing methods and tools for their applicability in distributed project settings. This understanding is also important when proposing new methods or tools. To negotiate distributed project requirements, for example, requires an understanding of distributed project stakeholders. Likewise, requirement document consistency might be related to distributed artifacts. In this article, I seek to explain the distributed software development phenomenon. My goal is to provide developers and other stakeholders a foundation for discussing specific challenges they might face in distributed software development projects. To this end, I present a taxonomy based on an earlier literature study.7 Here, I continue this earlier work by using a case study to exemplify the taxonomy’s use and substantiate its value.