Software evolution: a road map

Abstract

The aim of the panel session is to clarify issues involved in software evolution, but more particularly, to identify and explore promising solutions and research directions, in order to identify strategic goals for the research community and solution visions for practitioners. By evolution, we mean a stage of software lifecycle where the software undergoes substantial changes and this also includes iterative software development and/or agile software processes. Evolution methodology In broad terms, two types of solution are emerging as promising ways forward. The first may be termed anticipatory, and is based on the idea that processes and product evolution can both be planned, and preparation made for changes before they actually occur. This is the traditional view of the waterfall lifecycle and software engineering textbooks. The second is termed reactive, and offers a much more opportunistic view: that software change is too unpredictable to be planned, and we must put in place the right mechanisms to make changes when and as they are demanded. In both cases, there is increasing empirical evidence available from real-world software maintenance projects to inform the debate. Also in both cases, we have radically different perspectives of the software lifecycle that is employed. Speed of evolution Ultimately, we must meet the demands and needs of our users, who are increasingly demanding faster time to market as the key competitive edge. So we must accomplish evolutionary software change, not in the months or weeks that have been the norm, but in days or, better, hours. Businesses involved in the Internet are having to go constant urgent change, continually reinventing themselves to meet new challenges. This emergent organisational behaviour poses many new practical and research problems for the maintenance community. Panel format The panel will address this by inviting a team of distinguished and experienced software engineers to consider two key questions: Is the best way forward for software evolution to concentrate on the reactive or anticipatory approach? Can we attain a better understanding of evolution and meet the demands of our users, many of whom operate in emergent organisations and need very rapid software changes?