Newest papers

Theory of Developer Momentum: The Developer's Experience of Progress and the Craft of Maintaining Motion

Arty Starr, Keith Mann, Margaret‐Anne Storey · 2026 · arXiv (Cornell University)

DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2610.24935 · cited by 0 works (OpenAlex) · open-access PDF

German

In diesem Papier wird eine Theorie des Entwicklermoments eingeführt, die uns hilft, die Aktivität der Entwicklung von Software in Bewegung und das geschickte Handwerk, durch das sich der Fortschritt entfaltet, zu sehen. Wir definieren das Entwicklermomentum als die Erfahrung des Entwicklers von Fortschritt und Fortschritt in Richtung des Ziels einer Aufgabe. Unsere Theorie entfesselt die verwandten Konstrukte des Flusszustands, des Momentums und der Motivation, so dass wir die Beziehungen zwischen ihnen klarer sehen können und wie sie sich vernetzen, um den Fortschritt zu unterstützen. Um Fortschritt zu machen, bauen Entwickler einen Arbeitskontext im Gedächtnis auf, tauchen in ein kognitives Puzzle ein und gewinnen Klarheit durch Bewegung in unsicherem Gelände. Die The

Machine translation (Meta M2M100); the English original follows.

Abstract

This paper introduces a Theory of Developer Momentum that helps us see the activity of developing software in motion and the skilled craft through which progress unfolds. We define Developer Momentum as the developer's experience of progress and forward motion toward the goal of a task. Our theory disentangles the related constructs of flow state, momentum, and motivation, so we can more clearly see the relationships between them and how they interweave to support progress. In order to make progress, developers build up working context in memory, become immersed in a cognitive puzzle, and gain clarity through motion in uncertain terrain. The theory provides researchers with a rich experiential lens to investigate how developers' cognitive experiences are shifting in emerging AI workflows. Building on prior grounded theory work, we conducted in-depth interviews with a theoretically sampled subset of 12 professional developers, and eight feedback interviews to evaluate resonance and investigate how the theory translates to agentic AI workflows. We followed a Constructivist Grounded Theory approach to construct a theory grounded in empirical data. Our theory contributes a novel paradigm for seeing the motion of developing software at multiple scales and resolutions, seeing the living capacities that support this motion, and expanding what becomes available for improvement, skilled judgment, and craft.

Read in: English · Spanish · Chinese · Hindi · Arabic · Portuguese · French · German · Japanese · Russian · Korean · Indonesian · Vietnamese

Topics: Grounded theory, Craft, Motion (physics), CLARITY, Experiential learning, Context (archaeology)

Sources: OpenAlex (CC0), arXiv, Crossref. Agent Exchange