Project Velocity

Project velocity in open source projects refers to the rate at which development tasks are completed and features are delivered. It measures the amount of work completed in a specific amount of time.

A higher velocity suggests increased efficiency and progress, while a lower velocity may indicate challenges or bottlenecks.

Monitoring project velocity helps teams assess their performance and plan future tasks accordingly, ensuring steady project advancement.

The Project Velocity chart displays data from the last calendar year.

How the project velocity is calculated?

The velocity is calculated based on the activity in the project. The logarithmic values of these metrics are used to normalize the data and make it easier to compare across different projects.

The most common base for logarithms is 10. In this case, the logarithm gives you the power to which 10 must be raised to obtain the given number.

Example: log₁₀(100) = 2, because 10² = 100. In this case, the logarithm base 10 of 100 is 2, because 10 raised to the power of 2 equals 100.

Another example: log₁₀(1000) = 3, because 10³ = 1000.

To compute velocity, the following metrics are used:

• Commits: Total number of commits

• Pull Requests: The number of pull requests opened

• Issues: The number of issues opened

• Contributors: The total number of contributors who made the above kinds of contributions (i.e. Commits, Pull Requests, Issues)

1. On the Y-axis, there's a logarithmic scale representing PRs and Issues.

2. On the X-axis, there's a logarithmic scale representing commits.

3. The chart visualizes the correlation between code changes and collaboration.

Leaderboard: Project Velocity

To further understand the project's velocity, create a leaderboard. This ranks projects based on their commit numbers and provides a comparative view of their commits, PRs, and issues. This leaderboard can help in identifying the most active projects at a glance.

1. Review the top projects based on their commit numbers.

2. Compare their commit count, PRs, and issues in a single view.