Software Evolution Process - Essay Example

Lehman’s laws of software evolution are applicable only to E-type software systems; the eight laws of software evolution pertains to continuing change, increasing complexity, self-regulation, conservation of organizational stability, conservation of familiarity, continuing growth, declining quality, and feedback system.From the impetus of technology in software systems, Yang and Martin traced three different time-based approaches to software maintenance : two decades ago, when occasional corrections were made on software together with a new release once each year; a decade ago, when a major release is necessitated once every two years and some re-engineering for user-required functions; and today, where software is maintained on a continuous basis and changed more frequently with major enhancements, that the term reengineering born in the past decade is replaced with a newer terminology called software evolution.

As defined by April and Abran, software evolution refers to the process of the initial development of a software followed by its maintenance phase which usually consists of repeated updating for various reasons. It is a continuing process of applied to a software in an effort to transform it from a lower, simpler or worse to a higher, more complex or better state (Grubb and Takang).In essence, therefore, software process evolution is a component of software maintenance. One may, therefore, wonder how a software would need maintenance when it exists in digital form and as such, it may not really be subject to wear, or unlike most biological bodies, decay.

Vandegriend argued that in theory, one may welcome the idea of the possibility of a software being in use for several years and not requiring maintenance or modification; but this is never possible in practice.