Designing Maintainable Software

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiii

   PDF

2. Facing the Problem

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

      PDF

   2. The Problem

      • Dennis D. Smith

      Pages 3-10

   3. The Approach

      • Dennis D. Smith

      Pages 11-20

   4. The Attack

      • Dennis D. Smith

      Pages 21-29

3. Solutions Through Symbols

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 31-31

      PDF

   2. Some Basics

      • Dennis D. Smith

      Pages 33-38

   3. Naming

      • Dennis D. Smith

      Pages 39-46

   4. Words and Letters

      • Dennis D. Smith

      Pages 47-53

   5. Abbreviations and Mnemonics

      • Dennis D. Smith

      Pages 54-59

   6. Language

      • Dennis D. Smith

      Pages 60-64

   7. Language of Mnemonics

      • Dennis D. Smith

      Pages 65-72

4. Solutions Through Structure

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 73-73

      PDF

   2. More on Problem Solving

      • Dennis D. Smith

      Pages 75-79

   3. Solving Maintenance Problems

      • Dennis D. Smith

      Pages 80-85

   4. Other Considerations

      • Dennis D. Smith

      Pages 86-94

   5. Cognitive Structures

      • Dennis D. Smith

      Pages 95-104

5. Implementation and Testing

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 105-105

      PDF

   2. Implementing the Solutions

      • Dennis D. Smith

      Pages 107-112

   3. Testing

      • Dennis D. Smith

      Pages 113-121

This book is about maintaining computer software. Its aim is to improve a pro­ gram's capacity for altering code to fit changing requirements and for detecting and correcting errors. The book is written primarily for systems analysts and programmers. But others will also find it interesting. Managers will find ways to decrease costs, improve the organization's performance, and lessen its liability exposure. Re­ searchers will be given principles to expand upon, and will be able to develop techniques for solving new problems that arise in the world of maintenance. Another group to benefit is students. They will be given a foundation from which to write clear unambiguous programs. Software maintenance is an important and timely area of investigation. It is the component that gives an information system its flexibility. It is also the source of many of its problems. Software is costly to maintain. It is the usual cause of system failures and is the frequently cited reason why systems operate in unintended ways. Most software problems are not serious and require only minor repairs. But some have resulted in the loss of significant physical and financial resources. Others have cost lives. The book argues for a new way of thinking about maintaining software. Tra­ ditional approaches, using software engineering and management disciplines, do not adequately address maintenance issues. What is proposed to solve problems utilizes a set of human factors principles that govern the programmer-software­ event world interactions and form the core of the maintenance process.

• Processing
• computer
• design
• information system
• language
• management
• software
• software engineering
• system

• Information Science, Seattle, USA

  Dennis D. Smith

Policies and ethics