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Context: Blockchain-based software (BBS) exploits the concepts and technologies popularized by cryptocurrencies offering decentralized transaction ledgers with immutable content for security-critical and transaction critical systems. Recent research has explored the strategic benefits and technical limitations of BBS in various fields, including cybersecurity, healthcare, education, and financial technologies. Despite growing interest from academia and industry, there is a lack of empirical evidence, leading to an incomplete understanding of the processes, methods, and techniques necessary for systematic BBS development. Objectives: Existing research lacks a consolidated view, particularly empirically driven guidelines based on published evidence and development practices. This study aims to address the gap by consolidating empirical evidence and development practices to derive or leverage existing processes, patterns, and models for designing, implementing, and validating BBS systems. Method: Tied to this knowledge gap, we conducted a two-phase research project. First, a systematic literature review of 58 studies was performed to identify a development process comprising 23 tasks for BBS systems. Second, a survey of 102 blockchain practitioners from 35 countries across six continents was conducted to validate the BBS system development process. Results: Our results revealed a statistically significant difference (p-value <.001) in the importance ratings of 24 out of 26 BBS tasks by our participants. The only two tasks that were not statistically significant were incentive protocol design and granularity design. Conclusion: Our research is among the first to advance understanding on the aspect of development process for blockchain-based systems and helps researchers and practitioners in their quests on challenges and recommendations associated with the development of BBS systems

Technical Questions and Answers (Q&A) sites, such as Stack Overflow (SO), accumulate a significant variety of information related to software development in posts from users. To ensure the quality of this information, SO encourages its users to review posts through various mechanisms (e.g., question and answer revision processes). Although Architecture Related Posts (ARPs) communicate architectural information that has a system-wide impact on development, little is known about how SO users revise information shared in ARPs. To fill this gap, we conducted an empirical study to understand how users revise Architecture Related Questions (ARQs) on SO. We manually checked 13,205 ARPs and finally identified 4,114 ARQs that contain revision information. Our main findings are that: (1) The revision of ARQs is not prevalent in SO, and an ARQ revision starts soon after this question is posted (i.e., from 1 minute onward). Moreover, the revision of an ARQ occurs before and after this question receives its first answer/architecture solution, with most revisions beginning before the first architecture solution is posted. Both Question Creators (QCs) and non-QCs actively participate in ARQ revisions, with most revisions being made by QCs. (2) A variety of information (14 categories) is missing and further provided in ARQs after being posted, among which design context, component dependency, and architecture concern are dominant information. (3) Clarify the understanding of architecture under design and improve the readability of architecture problem are the two major purposes of the further provided information in ARQs. (4) The further provided information in ARQs has several impacts on the quality of answers/architecture solutions, including making architecture solution useful, making architecture solution informative, making architecture solution relevant, among others.

Quantum computing, albeit readily available as hardware or emulated on the cloud, is still far from being available in general regarding complex programming paradigms and learning curves. This vision paper introduces $Classi|Q\rangle$, a translation framework idea to bridge Classical and Quantum Computing by translating high-level programming languages, e.g., Python or C++, into a low-level language, e.g., Quantum Assembly. Our idea paper serves as a blueprint for ongoing efforts in quantum software engineering, offering a roadmap for further $Classi|Q\rangle$ development to meet the diverse needs of researchers and practitioners. $Classi|Q\rangle$ is designed to empower researchers and practitioners with no prior quantum experience to harness the potential of hybrid quantum computation. We also discuss future enhancements to $Classi|Q\rangle$, including support for additional quantum languages, improved optimization strategies, and integration with emerging quantum computing platforms.

This paper introduces a vision for Quantum Software Development lifecycle, proposing a hybrid full-stack iterative model that integrates quantum and classical computing. Addressing the current challenges in Quantum Computing (QC) such as the need for integrating diverse programming languages and managing the complexities of quantum-classical systems, this model is rooted in the principles of DevOps and continuous software engineering. It presents a comprehensive lifecycle for quantum software development, encompassing quantum-agnostic coding, testing, deployment, cloud computing services, orchestration, translation, execution, and interpretation phases. Each phase is designed to accommodate the unique demands of QC, enabling traditional software developers to engage with QC environments without needing in-depth QC expertise. The paper presents a detailed implementation roadmap, utilizing a range of existing tools and frameworks, thereby making quantum software development more accessible and efficient. The proposed model not only addresses current challenges in quantum software development but also makes a substantial contribution to the field of Quantum Software Engineering (QSE). By proposing a structured and accessible model, it sets the stage for further advancements and research in QSE, enhancing its practicality and relevance in a wide range of applications.

Quantum Computing (QC) is transitioning from theoretical frameworks to an indispensable powerhouse of computational capability, resulting in extensive adoption across both industrial and academic domains. QC presents exceptional advantages, including unparalleled processing speed and the potential to solve complex problems beyond the capabilities of classical computers. Nevertheless, academic researchers and industry practitioners encounter various challenges in harnessing the benefits of this technology. The limited accessibility of QC resources for classical developers, and a general lack of domain knowledge and expertise, represent insurmountable barrier, hence to address these challenges, we introduce a framework- Quantum Computing as a Service for Hybrid Classical-Quantum Software Development (QCSHQD), which leverages service-oriented strategies. Our framework comprises three principal components: an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for user interaction, an abstraction layer dedicated to orchestrating quantum services, and a service provider responsible for executing services on quantum computer. This study presents a blueprint for QCSHQD, designed to democratize access to QC resources for classical developers who want to seamless harness QC power. The vision of QCSHQD paves the way for groundbreaking innovations by addressing key challenges of hybridization between classical and quantum computers.

Containerization in a multi-cloud environment facilitates workload portability and optimized resource utilization. Containerization in multi-cloud environments has received significant attention in recent years both from academic research and industrial development perspectives. However, there exists no effort to systematically investigate the state of research on this topic. The aim of this research is to systematically identify and categorize the multiple aspects of container utilization in multi-cloud environment. We conduct the Systematic Mapping Study (SMS) on the literature published between January 2013 and March 2023. Eighty-six studies were finally selected and the key results are: (1) Four leading themes on cloud computing and network systems research were identified: 'Scalability and High Availability', 'Performance and Optimization', 'Security and Privacy', and 'Multi-Cloud Container Monitoring and Adaptation'. (2) Seventy-four patterns and strategies for containerization in multi-cloud environment were classified across 10 subcategories and 4 categories. (3) Ten quality attributes considered were identified with 47 associated tactics. (4) Four distinct frameworks were introduced based on the analysis of identified challenges and solutions: a security challenge-solution framework, an automation challenge-solution framework, a deployment challenge-solution framework, and a monitoring challenge-solution framework. The results of this SMS will assist researchers and practitioners in pursuing further studies on containerization in multi-cloud environment and developing specialized solutions for challenges related to containerization applications in multi-cloud environment., Comment: 59 pages, 4 images, 16 tables, Manuscript submitted to a Journal (2024)

Context: Quantum software systems represent a new realm in software engineering, utilizing quantum bits (Qubits) and quantum gates (Qgates) to solve the complex problems more efficiently than classical counterparts . Agile software development approaches are considered to address many inherent challenges in quantum software development, but their effective integration remains unexplored Objective: This study investigates key causes of challenges that could hinders the adoption of traditional agile approaches in quantum software projects and develop an Agile Quantum Software Project Success Prediction Model (AQSSPM). Methodology: Firstly, w e identified 19 causes of challenging factors discussed in our previous study, which are potentially impacting agile quantum project success. Secondly, a survey was conducted to collect expert opinions on these causes and applied Genetic Algorithm (GA) with Na i ve Bayes Classifier (NBC) and Logistic Regression (LR) to develop the AQSSPM Results: Utilizing GA with NBC, project success probability improved from 53.17% to 99.68%, with cost reductions from 0.463% to 0.403%. Similarly, GA with LR increased success rates from 55.52% to 98.99%, and costs decreased from 0.496% to 0.409% after 100 iterati ons. Both methods result showed a strong positive correlation (rs=0.955) in causes ranking, with no significant difference between them (t=1.195, p=0.240>0.05). Conclusion: The AQSSPM highlights critical focus areas for efficiently and successfully implementing agile quantum projects considering the cost factor of a particular project