Hey @danieldlmt!
@danieldlmt said:
Hello Godot Development team,
We’re from Federal University of Bahia (Brazil) and we conducted a research with some cross-platform libraries. ...
Umm, I’m not 100% sure, but I’m fairly positive the main Godot team (like Reduz and Akien) do not visit the forums very often. I would highly suggest posting this on the Godot Reddit, Facebook, or emailing the Godot team directly with your findings, as you’re much more likely to get a response from the main Godot development team as they frequent those platforms more often than the forums. I have heard the Godot Discord and IRC is also fairly active, though that was awhile go so things may have changed since then.
Regardless, the research you guys have done looks to be very in depth and the graphs look helpful.
While I am not personally associated or part of the main Godot team, I will do my best to answer what I can.
Hopefully it will help answer some of your questions, but as I said, I am by no means part of the main Godot team, and I have only contributed a few times to the core engine (though I have contributed a fair amount to the demo repository and the documentation repository)
- We’d like to know why do you think Windows is the most changed platform
Windows is probably the most changed platform because it is the most used platform. While Godot has excellent support for both MacOS and Linux, and there is a health base of users that use both Linux and MacOS, there is simply more Windows users using Godot.
Because of this, Windows gets a lot more attention and bug reports, which in turn brings more changes.
- Also we’d like to know if you have something to add about the distribution of changess among platforms in general
It’s nice to see that Linux has so many changes. Godot in my mind is the best game engine on Linux, and it’s nice to see the Linux side of Godot is being so actively worked on.
I also think it is interesting that Android is second to Windows in the amount of changes. I would have thought Linux would be second, and maybe MacOS third. Not that I am complaining, I think it’s great that Godot is getting better and better Android support, I just find it interesting that it is so high in comparison to the others.
- Is there a preference for generalist developers in platforms?
I do not think there is any real preference for generalist development. I would say it really depends on what you are considering ‘generalist’. Bugs and issues tagged with platform:Windows for example sometimes turn out to be actually crossplatform issues, but the tag is not updated/removed before the issue is closed.
It could also be that there are many developers with dual booted machines running more than one OS. Godot’s excellent Linux support and ease of development when using Linux is a huge plus to using Linux to work on general Godot problems, and then changing OS to work on platform specific problems.
All of that said, I have only contributed a few times to the main engine and that was a year or two ago so this is mostly speculation on my part. I’m sure someone more experienced and actively working with Godot’s source code could give a better and more accurate answer.
- Do you consider that Godot team is becoming more generalist or specialist in platforms over time?
Well, not being part of the main Godot team, I can’t really say.
However, I do think that Godot is really strenghting it’s support for the platforms it is currently supporting and I do not see that changing anytime in the near future.
- Do you have something to add about the developer generalization and specialization in platforms?
Not really.
I would be curious to know what counts as generalization and specialization in your data so I could better know what you are referring to, but that is just because I am curious more than anything else.
- Is there any division in the team acccording to the device type (mobile and desktop)? Why?
Because Godot is open source and anyone can work on it, people generally work on what they feel passionate about. As for there being divisions in team, I would say not really.
There are developers who are more specialized in certain areas of the engine and they tend to work on those areas, but there is by no means any requirements for them to. This extends to device types as well. There are developers working on Godot who know a lot about mobile development, and so they tend to help work on those platforms, but it is by no means required or structured in any way.
Godot is worked on by those who freely decided to help, and they generally tend to work on areas they care about and/or they find interesting. It is part of what makes Godot so diverse and powerful.
- Is there something you’d like to say about the team division by device type?
It’s nice to see such a even split between desktop and mobile development. Godot has made huge leaps and bounds in expanding the power and flexibility it offers to developers, and it’s nice to see those working on the source code are working hard to provide others such great support across all platforms.
Also, many of the developers work on Godot entirely for free, not being paid anything to work and maintain Godot (and those being paid are being paid by the community through Patreon). That is amazing and I am extremely grateful to everyone who has contributed their time and energy to Godot and it’s community.
Hopefully my answers help. I would highly, highly suggest reaching out on one of the other social media sites where more of the developers hang out, as they will probably be able to give more insightful and useful answers.
