ISSN:
1573-7616
Keywords:
Empirical Studies
;
Software Maintenance
;
Theory Development
;
Interdisciplinary Research
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Computer Science
Notes:
Abstract Researchers must pay far more attention to discovering and validating the principles that underlie software maintenance and evolution. This was one of the major conclusions reached during the International Workshop on Empirical Studies of Software Maintenance. This workshop, held in November 1996 in Monterey, California, brought together an international group of researchers to discuss the successes, challenges and open issues in software maintenance and evolution. This article documents the discussion of the subgroup on fundamental laws and assumptions of software maintenance. The participants of this group included researchers in software engineering, the behavioral sciences, information systems and statistics. Their main conclusion was that insufficient effort has been paid to synthesizing research conjectures into validated theories and that this problem has slowed progress in software maintenance. To help support this vision they identified the following supporting conclusions. (1) need to develop a genuine scientific approach—more than just using empirical methods, (2) other disciplines can help, (3) need to explore a wider range of approaches to empirical studies, (4) need to study both evolution and maintenance.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1009793015685
Permalink
