Session

DescriptionIn the book Code Complete by Steve McConnell, the author argues that working software is the only essential deliverable of a software project. At the same time, many other activities requiring diverse skills produce a variety of non-software artifacts that make high-quality software possible and assure the effective use of software in research. As software becomes more important for research, more sophisticated in its design and capabilities, more integrated into research workflows, and more useful to broader communities, additional expertise and tools become important to producing and sustaining software. In this minisymposium, we explore both possible and demonstrated successes resulting from introducing expertise in social and cognitive sciences, organizational psychology, community development and policies, and tools and processes that focus on meta-data in support of high-quality software. We have found that taking into account these aspects of scientific software development, maintenance, and use can significantly improve the value of software, enabling us to improve the quality and frequency of research results and reduce the cost of obtaining them.