The state of software maintenance

Abstract

A state of software maintenance survey is presented, indicating the incongruity of the simultaneous existence of important and neglect in this field. An overview is given of selected developments and activities covering the following topics: the "Maintenance Problem", models, methods for improving maintenance, metrics, maintenance information management, standards, maintenance of existing code, and surveys. The paper concludes with a prognosis of what is ahead in maintenance: a battle and tradeoff between the forces for maintaining the base of existing software and the forces for the evolution of new systems. An Appendix is provided for the reader who desires information about a software maintenance conference and a special interest group.