Distributed Computer System Complexity Versus Component Simplicity: Their Effects on Software Maintenance
نویسنده
چکیده
'Ihe computing world is undergoing a transformation from centralized to distributed computer systems. At the same time, software maintenance has been identified repeatedly as the largest single system life cycle cost. This paper focuses on the issue of whether and to what extent distributed computer operating environments directly afrect software maintenance difficulty (and, by association, software development difficulty). 'Ihe issue appears to depend on two diametrics of information system architectures: component simplicity and system complexity. The smaller (and more numerous) the system components, the simpler they are to deal with individually Oower software maintenance costs) but the harder it is todeal with the overall s*tem (higher software maintenance costs). 'Ihis research seeks empirical quantitative and qualitative data from IS system and application software analysts, designers, programmers, testers, and customer service representatives to determine whether the complexity of a distributed computer system has a greater effect on software maintenance than component simplicity and what the explanatory factors are. Preliminary findings indicate that the complexity of studied distributed systems overwhelms the simplicity of their components increasing the overall cost of software maintenance (as shown in the figure). In terms of factors, the rate oftechnological change and variety ofcompone,18 (particularlyprocessors and system software) far outweigh the effects of component numbers or the number Oftransactions. Moreover, distributed systems appear to be much more than just "broken-up" centralized systems, as autonomous processors make computing event-driven and not just logic-driven. system overall components system software maintenance costs centralized distributed degree of system distribution
منابع مشابه
Distributed Computer Environment Software Maintenance:System Complexity Versus Component Simplicity
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