A Case of Computational Thinking: The Subtle Effect of Hidden Dependencies on the User Experience of Version Control

Abstract. We present some work in progress based on observations of the use of version con-trol systems in two different software development organizations. We consider the emergent user experience, and analyze the structure of the conceptual model and its presentation to see how this experience is formed. We consider its impact on the adoption of such tools outside software engineering and suggest future lines of research. 1 Introduction to Version Control Systems Version Control Systems (VCS) are an essential part of most development workflows. They are tools that are used for managing code in different states, allowing users to access previous versions and the history of edits. They are also used to co-ordinate the development activity of multiple developers, simultaneously developing on the same code base. Commonly used ex