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Potentials of Green Coding -- Findings and Recommendations for Industry, Education and Science -- Extended Paper

Dennis Junger, Max Westing, Christopher P. Freitag, Achim Guldner, Konstantin Mittelbach, Kira Obergöker, Sebastian Weber, Stefan Naumann, Volker Wohlgemuth

TL;DR

The paper addresses environmental sustainability in ICT, focusing on software-induced energy and resource use through the concept of Green Coding and its role within Green IT. It conducts a literature review of Green Coding/Green Software Engineering since 2010 to synthesize definitions, concepts, measurement models, and implementation approaches for both industry and education. Key contributions include a survey of energy-measurement tools and lifecycle frameworks (e.g., GREENSOFT), an assessment of limited industry adoption and standardization, and a practical demonstration via a Green Coding pilot course at HTW Berlin. The work provides actionable guidance for integrating Green Coding into software development processes and higher education curricula, aiming to reduce $CO_2$ emissions and promote sustainable software development practices across industry and academia.

Abstract

Progressing digitalization and increasing demand and use of software cause rises in energy- and resource consumption from information and communication technologies (ICT). This raises the issue of sustainability in ICT, which increasingly includes the sustainability of the software products themselves and the art of creating sustainable software. To this end, we conducted an analysis to gather and present existing literature on three research questions relating to the production of ecologically sustainable software ("Green Coding") and to provide orientation for stakeholders approaching the subject. We compile the approaches to Green Coding and Green Software Engineering (GSE) that have been published since 2010. Furthermore, we considered ways to integrate the findings into existing industrial processes and higher education curricula to influence future development in an environmentally friendly way.

Potentials of Green Coding -- Findings and Recommendations for Industry, Education and Science -- Extended Paper

TL;DR

The paper addresses environmental sustainability in ICT, focusing on software-induced energy and resource use through the concept of Green Coding and its role within Green IT. It conducts a literature review of Green Coding/Green Software Engineering since 2010 to synthesize definitions, concepts, measurement models, and implementation approaches for both industry and education. Key contributions include a survey of energy-measurement tools and lifecycle frameworks (e.g., GREENSOFT), an assessment of limited industry adoption and standardization, and a practical demonstration via a Green Coding pilot course at HTW Berlin. The work provides actionable guidance for integrating Green Coding into software development processes and higher education curricula, aiming to reduce emissions and promote sustainable software development practices across industry and academia.

Abstract

Progressing digitalization and increasing demand and use of software cause rises in energy- and resource consumption from information and communication technologies (ICT). This raises the issue of sustainability in ICT, which increasingly includes the sustainability of the software products themselves and the art of creating sustainable software. To this end, we conducted an analysis to gather and present existing literature on three research questions relating to the production of ecologically sustainable software ("Green Coding") and to provide orientation for stakeholders approaching the subject. We compile the approaches to Green Coding and Green Software Engineering (GSE) that have been published since 2010. Furthermore, we considered ways to integrate the findings into existing industrial processes and higher education curricula to influence future development in an environmentally friendly way.
Paper Structure (23 sections, 4 figures)

This paper contains 23 sections, 4 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction and Motivation
  2. Used Definitions
  3. Definition of Sustainability
  4. Definition of Green Coding
  5. Research Questions
  6. RQ1: What concepts of programming software in an environmentally friendly way exist for general software development?
  7. RQ2: What concepts of environmentally friendly software engineering processes are already in place in the Internet industry?
  8. RQ3: How can Green Coding concepts be implemented into the current software development processes and the curricula of existing study programs?
  9. RQ3-1: How can Green Coding concepts be implemented into the current software development processes?
  10. RQ3-2: How can Green Coding concepts be implemented into the curricula of existing study programs?
  11. Search Design and Review Process
  12. Used Search Strings
  13. RQ1: What concepts of programming software in an environmentally friendly way exist for software development in general?
  14. RQ2: What concepts of environmentally friendly software engineering processes are already in place in the Internet industry?
  15. RQ3: How can Green Coding concepts be implemented into the current software development processes and the curricula of existing study programs?
  16. ...and 8 more sections

Figures (4)

  • Figure 1: Logo of 'Potentials of Green Coding' project (https://gi.de/en/aktuelles/projekte/en-green-coding)
  • Figure 2: Weighted word cloud, created with www.wordclouds.com
  • Figure 3: Results of a systematic search of Google Scholar using advanced search functions for each year from 2010 to 2022 using keyword searches
  • Figure 4: Universities teaching Green Software Engineering or Green Coding courses around the world