Sustainability in software and green software has increased attention in software engineering (SE), given the potential of software to contribute positively to sustainable development initiatives. This trend is substantiated by the numerous systematic reviews (SRs) that have been published on the matter. However, a significant gap in understanding remains concerning the sustainability concepts and their dimensions within the field. This tertiary study aims to construct a comprehensive map of sustainability topics in SE. As a result, 80 SRs were selected in this report. A notable lack of consensus exists regarding SE sustainability definitions and the dimensions involved. The environmental dimension is the most frequently reported, capturing 55% of the research focus, with a predominant emphasis on energy efficiency. Approximately 52.5% of studies delve into products related to system performance and evolvability and software architecture. However, limited attention is given to the social, economic, and individual dimensions. Despite the considerable focus on the green dimension, there is a necessity for further research in both empirical primary studies and SRs to enhance the reliability of the findings. Achieving consensus on definitions of terminology and implementing standardized measurement methods are essential steps to advance understanding the sustainable SE.

Gamification, defined as the integration of game elements into non-gaming environments, is a promising approach to increase student engagement, motivation, and performance in Computer Science and Software Engineering education. This viewpoint encouraged the creation of QueryCompetition, a web system that allows students to practice SQL in a competitive environment. Our goal was to obtain empirical evidence on how gamifying elements, such as challenges, points, and leaderboards, integrated into QueryCompetition, affect student performance, motivation, and user experience. We carried out a quasi-experimental study with two groups in a Database course. One group used a gamified version of QueryCompetition having access to points and leaderboards, while the other used a non-gamified version with no access to the above mentioned elements. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through tests and a survey. The results showed that there was a statistically significant improvement in student performance in the gamified group as compared to the non-gamified group. In addition, a higher motivation was observed in the gamified group. The empirical evidence presented in this article supports the claim that inclusion of challenges, points, and leaderboards, together with the competitive nature of QueryCompetition, impacts positively on student performance and motivation to practice SQL.

Skills demanded by the IT industry from graduates should be aligned with the curricula of Computer Science undergraduate programs.It is well-known that theoretical knowledge undergraduate students acquire during their studies needs to be complemented with practical experience; therefore, participating in university supported real life projects is a viable option for the students to get prepared for the industry.This paper reports findings from a survey applied to students who had been involved in an industry-based program meant to fulfill their graduation requirements, including the opportunity to develop a capstone project.We gathered their perceptions regarding what they learned during their studies, what they acquired in the industrybased program and what they consider useful for their current jobs.The results show that most topics are aligned between the Bachelor's degree program and the industry needs, but there is a strong separation in the cognitive levels students achieve at each stage.The paper provides insight into the needs of Computer Science students and contributes to finding ways of increasing undergraduate student satisfaction with skills acquired at university and their application in real contexts.

Software startups develop innovative products under extreme conditions of uncertainty. At the same time they represent a fast-growing sector in the economy and scale up research and technological advancement. This paper describes findings after observing a startup during its first 31 months of life. The data was collected through observations, unstructured interviews as well as from technical and managerial documentation of the startup. The findings are based on a deductive analysis and summarized in 24 contextualized patterns that concern communication, interaction with customer, teamwork, and management. Furthermore, 13 lessons learned are presented with the aim of sharing experience with other startups. This industry report contributes to understanding the applicability and usefulness of startups' patterns, providing valuable knowledge for the startup software engineering community.

Providing stimulating and real-life experiences is a key component in teaching software project management in Computer Science or Software Engineering programs.The diversity of topics that need to be addressed and restrictions that should be considered in university courses make a challenging task of it.This paper presents a serious game, called "White Crow PM" whose objective is to make students aware of the risks they might face during software development projects.The paper describes the game design steps and provides results of its validation in Computer Science programs in two Mexican universities.The collected data showed that the participants had fun playing the game and its content is relevant for software project management courses.Although the game needs to be validated in other settings with more participants, we conclude that it fulfills the goal of motivating discussion and increasing awareness of project management concerns among students.

Quality demands on current and future software systems need to address diverse quality characteristics considered important for the diversity of stakeholders. Dealing with software quality may require achieving a balance between relevant quality characteristics. Current literature shows that software organizations barely handle them. However, the lack of management of these interactions may be a causal factor in failed projects. In this paper, we present a process for monitoring interactions between quality requirements based on an interaction model of quality characteristics. This process is part of the SQIMF framework and supports the identification and characterization of the interactions between quality requirements. An exploratory case study was conducted in order to understand the factors that could influence the interactions that occur.

Improving a particular quality characteristic in a software product may have a negative impact on the others. The literature shows that few organizations handle interactions between quality characteristics; this neglect may be a causal factor in failed projects. That led us to propose a process framework to support organizations that want to manage the interactions between quality characteristics. In this paper, we present the methods that may be used when the process framework is deployed. The methods were extracted from a published mapping study on software quality trade-offs. They were classified with regard to the particular context facet addressed and the specific decision-making approach used. Our contribution is a set of methods to manage interaction between quality characteristics, organized into a software process framework.

Background: Maturity models have been developed to assist organizations to enhance software quality, and the software engineering community has proposed numerous types of these, most of them based on CMM, ISO/IEC 15504 and CMMI-DEV. The great proliferation of maturity models leads to a need for systematic approaches to build them. Aim: To discover and analyze the existing methods and recommended practices for developing maturity models. Method: A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted. Results: 1500 papers were returned as a result of the searches, from which 23 were chosen as candidates, and 7 of these, published between 2005 and 2010, were eventually selected as primary studies. Conclusions: The proposal of methods for maturity models development is an emerging topic in literature. Most published maturity models are based on practices and success factors from projects that showed good results in an organization or industry, but which lack a sound theoretical basis and methodology. The proposed methods highlight as main activities: to establish goals for maturity model development, to design model architecture, to set out capability levels and dimensions, to and pilot testing. However, the creation of an assessment questionnaire and specific activities for maintenance are poorly supported. The SLR results have served to propose a method for developing maturity models that is focused on product quality characteristics.