Thorsten Berger, associate professor at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, is appointed Wallenberg Academy Fellow for his work on the next-generation version control systems for continuous software development.
Next-generation version control systems for continuous software development
Developing complex software for vehicles, telephones, computers or apps, requires managing many different versions or variants of the software. Wallenberg Academy Fellow Thorsten Berger will develop methods and tools for the next generation of version control systems that facilitate the age of continuous software development and artificial intelligence.
Thorsten Berger at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, along with 28 other young researchers, has been awarded the Wallenberg Academy Fellow. The grant will facilitate for young researchers in Sweden to make important scientific breakthroughs by obtaining long-term research funding. As a Wallenberg Academy Fellow, Thorsten Berger will create a modern and digital system for handling different versions of software.
– I am deeply honored to receive this award, says Thorsten Berger. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my students and collaborators who contributed to the body of knowledge we established together in this area. I hope my research provides new perspectives on software evolution and contributes to building the software engineering methods and tools of the future.
Software development deeply dependent on version control systems
Software for modern technology is always under development and as such has become a multimillion-dollar industry. Large web hosting companies store source code and offer version control systems, which manage software versions and variants so that innovators can experiment and develop new ideas.
Today's system has to be handled manually
However, a major problem with current version control systems is that they are built upon old structures that were developed in the 1970s. The source code must be copied and saved manually in files and folders. This practice is time-consuming and hardly compatible with modern software development, in which programs are continuously improved, sometimes using artificial intelligence where the machine creates the code itself.
Methods and tools for the next generation of version control systems
Thorsten Berger will develop a new theory of software evolution as well as methods and tools for the next generation of version control systems. He will reuse the good elements from the contemporary systems and combine them with modern methods from software synthesis and software product lines, in which the software is flexibly put together from a number of different features. The aim is to create a version control system for modern technology that undergoes continuous change.