Question

Discuss why it is important to write code with future maintainability in mind. What kinds of maintenance might be done on an existing program?

Answer 1

Answer:

System maintenance refers to changing an existing information system to fix errors or enhance functionality. Software consistently needs new attributes or bug fixes. Maintainability of software is very easy to extend for longer periods by fixing minor issues, which increases the usage of the software. In other words, if you don’t continue to update and modify an existing software system or component, it will eventually stop working. Like your mobile app, you can note that from time to time Android gives notification to update your Android and many more apps that you are using on your phone, they send notify you to update that app otherwise it will not work properly. If the software has not maintainability code, you cannot update your software and you have to install full application/software. Sometimes a major iOS or Windows upgrade renders your favorite application stopped. So, even with all the new software systems popping up from time to time, it still needs to keep changing and updating the existing systems to keep them long term usable, relevant and profitable. Software that does not evolve stops being useful.

Types of maintainability- There are four types of maintainability.

Adaptive Maintainability- It refers to modifying a system in response to environmental changes, changes to the operating system, software dependencies, hardware, and even organizational rules and policies. For example- updating the server, compiler, etc or modifications payment processors can affect your functionality in your software.

Corrective Maintenance- It refers to repairing design and programming bugs and is the most frequent. Corrective changes focus errors and faults in your software that could affect various areas of design of software, logic or code. Most commonly, these changes are made by bug reports created by users. Sometimes reports created by users are actually enhancements of the system, not bugs.

Perfective Maintenance- It refers to changing the system so that it can solve new problems or take advantage of new technologies. As your software launched to users they will think of different ways to expand the system or suggest new features that they would like to see as part of the software system, which in turn can become future improvement to the system. It also includes removing features from a system that are not effective and functional to the end goal of the system.

Preventive Change- It refers to introducing changes that would protect the system from the future problem. Updating documentation and restructuring optimizing code are common preventive changes. It reduces the number of unpredictable effects software can have in the long term and helps it become scalable, stable, understandable and maintainable.