Software development is notoriously short on research-based practices. Google’s DevOps Research and Assessment (DORA) project is helping fill that gap.

DORA describes itself as

DORA’s State of DevOps research program represents seven years of research and data from over 32,000 professionals worldwide. It is the longest running academically rigorous research investigation of its kind, providing an independent view into the practices and capabilities that drive high performance in technology delivery and ultimately organizational outcomes. Our research uses behavioral science to identify the most effective and efficient ways to develop and deliver software.

The leaders of DORA also published a book based on their research, Accelerate.

I’ve yet to look deeply into either of these resource, but I still thought it worth sharing since research-based studies of best practices are rare in software.

The project seems promising from my browsing thusfar. Their article on database practices helped me find managed database migration tools I long hypothesized should exist.

I’m sure I’ll have more to say about DORA as I dig deeper. For now, enjoy some sweet sweet objective research!