An artifact is one of many kinds of ''tangible'' by-products produced during the development of software. Some artifacts (e.g.,

use case In both software and systems engineering, a use case is a structured description of a system’s behavior as it responds to requests from external actors, aiming to achieve a specific goal. It is used to define and validate functional requireme ...

s, class diagrams, requirements and design documents) help describe the function, architecture, and design of software. Other artifacts are concerned with the process of development itself—such as project plans, business cases, and risk assessments. The term ''artifact'' in connection with software development is largely associated with specific development methods or processes e.g., Unified Process. This usage of the term may have originated with those methods. Build tools often refer to source code compiled for testing as an artifact, because the

executable In computer science, executable code, an executable file, or an executable program, sometimes simply referred to as an executable or binary, causes a computer "to perform indicated tasks according to encoded instruction (computer science), in ...

is necessary to carrying out the testing plan. Without the executable to test, the testing plan artifact is limited to non-execution based testing. In non-execution based testing, the artifacts are the walkthroughs, inspections and correctness proofs. On the other hand, execution based testing requires at minimum two artifacts: a test suite and the executable. ''Artifact'' occasionally may refer to the released code (in the case of a code library) or released executable (in the case of a program) produced, but more commonly an artifact is the byproduct of software development rather than the product itself. Open source code libraries often contain a testing harness to allow contributors to ensure their changes do not cause regression bugs in the code library. Much of what are considered artifacts is

software documentation Software documentation is written text or illustration that accompanies computer software or is embedded in the source code. The documentation either explains how the software operates or how to use it, and may mean different things to people in ...

. In end-user development an artifact is either an application or a complex data object that is created by an end-user without the need to know a general programming language. Artifacts describe automated behavior or control sequences, such as database requests or grammar rules, or

user-generated content User-generated content (UGC), alternatively known as user-created content (UCC), emerged from the rise of web services which allow a system's User (computing), users to create Content (media), content, such as images, videos, audio, text, testi ...

. Artifacts vary in their maintainability, which is primarily affected by the role the artifact fulfills. The role can be either practical or symbolic. In the earliest stages of software development, artifacts may be created by the design team to serve a symbolic role to show the project sponsor how serious the contractor is about meeting the project's needs. Symbolic artifacts often convey information poorly, but are impressive-looking. Symbolic artifacts are sometimes referred to in the information architecture industry as illuminated scrolls, because the decorations do nothing to enhance understanding. Generally speaking, symbolic artifacts are also considered unmaintainable due to the diligence it requires to preserve the symbolic quality. For this reason, once symbolic artifacts are shown to the project sponsor and approved, they are replaced by artifacts which serve a practical role. Practical artifacts usually need to be maintained throughout the project lifecycle, and, as such, are generally highly maintainable. Artifacts are significant from a

project management Project management is the process of supervising the work of a Project team, team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project initiation documentation, project documentation, crea ...

perspective as

deliverable A deliverable is a tangible or intangible good or service produced as a result of a project that is intended to be delivered to a customer (either internal or external). A deliverable could be a report, a document, a software product, a server upgr ...

s. The deliverables of a software project are likely to be the same as its artifacts with the addition of the software itself. The sense of artifacts as byproducts is similar to the use of the term '' artifact'' in science to refer to something that arises from the process in hand rather than the issue itself, i.e., a result of interest that stems from the means rather than the end. To collect, organize and manage artifacts, a software development folder may be utilized.

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