Cloud Programming Languages and Infrastructure From Code: An Empirical Study
Infrastructure-from-Code (IfC) is a new approach to DevOps and an advancement of Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC). One of its key concepts is to provide a higher level of abstraction facilitated by new programming languages or software development kits, which automatically generate the necessary code and configurations to provision the infrastructure, deploy the application, and manage the cloud services. IfC approaches promise higher developer productivity by reducing DevOps-specific tasks and the expert knowledge required. However, empirical studies on developers’ performance, perceived ease of use, and usability related to IfC are missing. We conducted a controlled experiment (n=40) to assess the usability of the cloud programming languages (PL) and software development kits (SDK). Both approaches involve similar effectivity. We found that the PL-based approach was moderately less efficient but increased correctness with time spent on programming. Tracing generated infrastructure configurations from code was more challenging with the SDK-based approach. Applying thematic analysis, 19 themes emerged related to usability barriers, supporting factors, security, cloud cost, and enhancement areas. We conclude with five findings and future directions.
Mon 21 OctDisplayed time zone: Pacific Time (US & Canada) change
09:00 - 10:30 | Empirical Studies and Experience ReportsSLE at IBR East Chair(s): Benoit Combemale University of Rennes, Inria, CNRS, IRISA | ||
09:00 30mTalk | Trading Runtime for Energy Efficiency SLE Simão Cunha University of Minho, Luís Silva University of Minho, João Saraiva University of Minho, João Paulo Fernandes LIACC, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal DOI | ||
09:30 30mTalk | Cloud Programming Languages and Infrastructure From Code: An Empirical Study SLE DOI | ||
10:00 30mTalk | Statically and Dynamically Delayed Sampling for Typed Probabilistic Programming Languages SLE Gizem Caylak KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Daniel Lundén Oracle, Viktor Senderov Institut de Biologie de l'École Normale Supérieure, David Broman KTH Royal Institute of Technology DOI |