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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

Hindi

इस लेख में एक डेवलपर्स मोमबत्ती के डेटा सिद्धांत का परिचय दिया गया है जो हमें गति में सॉफ्टवेयर विकसित करने की गतिविधि और प्रगति के माध्यम से कौशल एजेंट के कार्य को देखने में मदद करता है। हम डेवलपर्स मोमबत्ती को एक कार्य के लक्ष्य की ओर प्रगति और आगे की गति का डेवलपर्स के अनुभव के रूप में परिभाषित करते हैं। हमारी सिद्धांत प्रवाह की स्थिति, मोमबत्ती और प्रेरणा के संबंधित संरचनाओं को अलग करता है, ताकि हम उनके बीच के संबंधों को और प्रगति का समर्थन करने के लिए कैसे इंटरव्यू कर सकते हैं। प्रगति करने के लिए, डेवलपर्स मोमबत्ती को स्मृति में काम करने के संदर्भ में बनाते हैं, एक संज्ञानात्मक पहेली में डुबोते हैं,

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.

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

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