Sociotechnical Dynamics in Open Source Smart Contract Repositories: An Exploratory Data Analysis of Curated High Market Value Projects

Autores: Saori Costa, Matheus Paixão, Igor Steinmacher, Pamella Soares, Allysson araújo, Jerffeson Souza

Local de publicação: XXXVIII Simpósio Brasileiro de Engenharia de Software (SBES' 24) - Trilha de ferramentas
https://doi.org/10.1145/3663533.366403

Abstract

Blockchain and Smart Contracts (SCs) have emerged as a promising avenue for organizations looking to innovate. Similar to other fields of software engineering, collaborative platforms, such as GitHub, are gaining attention in SCs development. Moreover, public blockchain platforms, such as Ethereum, commonly serve as a medium to deploy SCs. This ecosystem serves as the basis on which the sociotechnical phenomenon of SC development emerges. Despite the growth of research regarding SCs, there is a gap in understanding the sociotechnical factors involved in their development, specially the ones with high market value. To address this issue, we leveraged Sociotechnical Theory and Data Analysis to investigate the sociotechnical dynamics in open source repositories of SCs deployed on Ethereum. To ensure suitability for our analysis, we curated a list of 16 high market value SCs deployed on Ethereum. Our research yielded four primary analyses. First, we unveiled how collaboration aspects are impacted by the deployment of SCs. Second, we explored the characteristics of contributors participating in these projects. Third, we looked into commit messages to categorize commonly performed software changes. Fourth, we investigated the relationship between market metrics and SC evolution. These analyses help to deepen the understanding of sociotechnical dynamics within SC repositories, assisting organizations in designing better strategies to support their development efforts.