A case study on the long-term effects of software redocumentation

Abstract

This work presents data from a long-term (four year) case study of the effects of incremental software redocumentation of data communications services software that is a part of a check processing system. It presents data on the relative cost and completeness of the incremental redocumentation and its impact on programmer productivity and cost of the software change. The break-even point occurred after 1.5 years of effort, which means that the extra investment in redocumentation started paying off after 1.5 years of redocumentation activity.