A Novel Software Evolution Model Based on Software Networks

Many published papers analyzed the forming mechanisms and evolution laws of OO software systems from software reuse, software pattern, etc. There, however, have been fewer models so far merely built on the software components such as methods, classes, etc. and their interactions. In this paper, a novel Software Evolution Model based on Software Networks (called SEM-SN) is proposed. It uses software network at class level to represent software systems, and uses software network’s dynamical generating process to simulate activities in real software development process such as new classes’ dynamical creations and their dynamical interactions with already existing classes. It also introduces the concept of node/edge ageing to describe the decaying of classes with time. Empirical results on eight open-source Object-Oriented (OO) software systems demonstrate that SCM-SN roughly describes the evolution process of software systems and the emergence of their complex network characteristics.