Improved management of issue dependencies in issue trackers of large collaborative projects
Mikko Raatikainen, Quim Motger, Clara Marie L\"uders, Xavier Franch,, Lalli Myllyaho, Elina Kettunen, Jordi Marco, Juha Tiihonen, Mikko Halonen,, Tomi M\"annist\"o

TL;DR
This paper presents a novel approach to managing issue dependencies in large, complex project issue trackers by developing an integrated system that automatically constructs issue graphs, detects missing dependencies, and checks for conflicts, improving collaboration efficiency.
Contribution
It introduces a new system that separates issues and dependencies, automatically constructs issue graphs, and enhances dependency detection and conflict diagnosis within Jira for large projects.
Findings
Effective automatic construction of issue dependency graphs.
Improved detection of missing dependencies and conflicts.
Enhanced support for managing large, complex issue networks.
Abstract
Issue trackers, such as Jira, have become the prevalent collaborative tools in software engineering for managing issues, such as requirements, development tasks, and software bugs. However, issue trackers inherently focus on the lifecycle of single issues, although issues have and express dependencies on other issues that constitute issue dependency networks in large complex collaborative projects. The objective of this study is to develop supportive solutions for the improved management of dependent issues in an issue tracker. This study follows the Design Science methodology, consisting of eliciting drawbacks and constructing and evaluating a solution and system. The study was carried out in the context of The Qt Company's Jira, which exemplifies an actively used, almost two-decade-old issue tracker with over 100,000 issues. The drawbacks capture how users operate with issue trackers…
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