Definition
The average number of times Active Contributors are pushing code per day.
Why it matters
Similarly to the Commits per Day metric, Pushes per Day serve as a checkpoint where engineers are saving a snapshot of their work in a public place. Smaller pushes represent more frequent checkpointing, so that engineers and their teammates can track the evolution of their change in their VCS. In the case where something goes wrong, like a test failure, these incremental pushes can help localize the issue. Our research shows that Pushes per Day is the single highest correlation to engineering output metrics, such as Pull Requests Throughput.
How to use it
When team members push frequently, they’re working in small batches and value the incremental delivery processes. If they have a low number of Pushes per Day, then it’s an indicator that a developer either (1) isn’t getting enough time to work, (2) is getting enough time, but struggling with the codebase, (3) is getting enough time, but not shipping in small batches.
When this number is trending upwards, it’s a sign that a developer is becoming more confident and effective. If it’s trending downwards, they might be impeded or not engaged.