A Metasynthesis of Solo Software Development Methodologies

Delivering quality software is every software developer's responsibility. The use of software development methodologies increases chances of delivering quality software, within stipulated timelines and budget. Limited research exists on solo software development methodologies, thus solo developers resort to adapting team software development methods for their development efforts. The dilemma is that adaptation of team software methodologies may compromise the quality of the resulting methodologies. This paper addresses this dilemma by presenting results of a qualitative meta-synthesis conducted to synthesize the existing few solo software development methodologies into a high-quality solo software development framework. Articles published between January 2000 and December 2017 were identified using a predefined search string. Six primary studies were included in the synthesis after meeting the criteria set for the study. Using meta-ethnography, the identified solo software development methodologies were interpreted and translated into each other resulting in a six staged solo software development framework. The six stages are: Management Buy-in and Standards adoption; Requirements Elicitation; Release and Sprint Planning; Development; Sprint Review and Close; and Evaluation. This study therefore contributes to knowledge through theory building in solo (freelance) software development. Freelance developers can adopt this framework to enhance the quality of their software. Further research on the derived framework should validate the framework empirically creating more knowledge in the field of solo software development.