How OSS Developers Utilize Architectural Solutions from Q&A Sites: An Empirical Study

OSS practitioners use architectural solutions from Q&A sites to solve a large variety of architectural problems, with Component design issue, Architectural anti-pattern, and Security issue being the dominant problems. The most frequently utilized architectural solutions are Architectural refactoring, Use of frameworks, and Architectural tactic. OSS practitioners face various challenges when using architectural solutions from Q&A sites, with the significant time required to adapt them being the most reported challenge.