Software Maintenance Guest Editors' Introduction

M s ^ aintenance literature in the not decrease turnover among maintainers, maintainers; and keeping programmer mid-1970's to early 1980's (3) much has, in fact, been done and turnover low. At a different level, corporaA.ts tried to define software written about software maintenance, and tions rely on maintenance to keep their maintenance and determine whether the (4) the industry-wide money-saving daily operations running smoothly, to keep term itself was appropriate. "Everybody potential of a new maintenance technique software in a state that allows easy modicomplains about software maintenance is not by itself sufficient to justify marketfication and reuse, and to facilitate stratebut nothing is being done about it" was a ing or procuring the technique. gic corporate transition to new software common lament. Virtually any advance in Software maintenance needs have cryssystems. software maintenance was thought to be tallized. Software maintenance shops are The call for better maintenance technolmeaningful because of high industry-wide seeking suitable combinations of mainogy to meet these needs is being answered. maintenance costs. tenance, management, and motivation Concern for software maintenance has Nowadays people realize that technology for changing code within deadmotivated (I) arguing about the definition of softlines and within budget; achieving code * new ways to manage software change ware maintenance seldom leads to mainquality standards (e.g., keeping code * maintenance tools, tenance advances, understandable, flexible, reliable); keeping * maintenance cost estimation tech(2) giving maintenance a new name does documentation up to date; training new niques,