BookEdison Bicudo.
Summary: This book analyses the social contexts in which programmers design neuroimaging software used in brain studies. It shows that in the same way people engage in everyday communication, programmers are involved in a series of communicative processes to realize the negotiations and discussions generated by software development. In this way, highly technical activities such as computer code writing are also underpinned by values, preferences, and power relations. At the same time, the book sheds new light on scientists' increasing dependence on software. On the one hand, many scientific tasks can no longer be performed without the help of computational technologies. On the other hand, most scientists have only superficial computing knowledge. As a result, inequalities emerge whereby some scientists take the most strategic methodological decisions whereas other scientists can only rely on the technical help provided by user-friendly computer applications.
Contents:
Intro; Foreword; Acknowledgements; Contents; List of Charts; List of Tables; List of Maps; List of Boxes; chapterOne First Words; Observing the Brain; Neuroimaging Through Software; Neuroimaging Through Handicraft; Neuroimaging Software's Trajectory; Brain Images, Brain Data; The Socialization of Computer Programming; Software Development and Communication; Open Source Software and the Internet; Research Methods; Structure of the Book; References; 1stPart Socializing Code; chapterTwo (Sharing Code: Social Mediations in Software Development) { 14
.2. Halting Social Changesection15 (Leading Institutions, Main Classes) {; 15
.1. Basic Hierarchies in Software Development; 15
.2. International Hierarchies in Software Development; 15
.3. Knowledge Hierarchies in Software Development; section16 (R & D, SPM) {; section17 Empirical Example: The MatLab Programming Language; References; chapterFive (Using Code: The Social Diffusion of Programming Tasks) {; section18 (Intuition, Automation) {; section19 (Everyday Norms, Routine Parameters) {; 19
.1. Requests from Users; 19
.2. Solutions from Users 4
.4. Software Development and Communicationsection5 Empirical Example: GitHub; References; chapterThree (Writing Code: Software Development and Communication) {; section6 [Open Talk, Open Code] {; section7 [Social Morphology, Code Syntax] {; 7
.1. The Logics of Programming; 7
.2. Control and Coordination; section8 [Discursive Interface, Graphical Interface] {; 8
.1. The Expressive Dimension of Code; 8
.2. Scientific Code Writing; 8
.3. Vital Software, Residual Software; section9 [Human Community, Developer Community] {; 9
.1. The "Other Face" of Programming 9
.2. Self-Explanation and Documentation9
.3. The Community of Programmers; section10 Empirical Example: FORTRAN, ALGOL, and COBOL; References; 2ndPart Codifying Society; chapterFour (Owning Code: Institutional Aspects of Software Development) {; section11 (Institutional Barriers, Code Shields) {; section12 (Geographical Space, Namespace) {; section13 ("Economic Order" & "Social Order") {; 13
.1. Funding for Software Development; 13
.2. Software Development and Scientific Reputation; section14 (Social Paralysis, Software Evolution) {; 14
.1. Fostering Code Evolution Section1 [Swift Relations, Agile Development] {1
.1. The Technical Worth of Collaboration; 1
.2. Expressions of Collaboration; 1
.3. Individuals and Groups; 1
.4. Distant Collaboration; section2 [Globalization, Modularization] {; 2
.1. Modules and Toolboxes; 2
.2. Modularization and Communication; 2
.3. Software Flexibility; section3 [Inherited Knowledge, Inherited Code] {; 3
.1. Inheritance; 3
.2. Libraries; section4 [Social Connections, Technical Connections] {; 4
.1. Software Development as State of Nature; 4
.2. Software Development as Culture; 4
.3. Trust and Leadership