Anti-patterns in Open Source Software Development

Abstract

In software engineering, an Anti-pattern (or Anti-pattern) is a pattern that may be commonly used but is ineffective and/or counterproductive in practice. Anti-patterns or bad practices are not novel; they are ordinary in software industry, and have been since software's inception. The foundation of antipatterns initiated in 1980 and continued to nurture in software community in 1990s. Analysis of anti-patterns assists to identify the common faults in software projects. These are the practices performed by experienced people or project managers that provide guidance to avoid project failure. We feel there is a lack of empirical knowledge about anti-patterns in open source software development which direct the practitioners about bad practices that can influence the software quality. This paper exposes the software project management antipatterns and their impact on open source software development where developers work in variable locations, seldom or certainly not meet face to face, and manage their activities through emails and video conferencing. The main aim of the paper is to uncover the anti-patterns, which are present in open source software development and to provide a knowledge based solution to avoid them.