Programming Infrastructure and Code Production: An Ethnographic Study

Abstract

Infrastructure is an essential part of all human endeavours. Instead of viewing the infrastructure necessary for the production of software systems and the program code as separate entities and independent of one another, this paper offers the view that neither the infrastructure nor the code are discrete things that can be examined in isolation. They are phenomena that are inseparable; they intertwine and interact, shaping each other over time. The research is based on a longitudinal ethnographic study of work practice in a software development company using an Agile development approach.