Types of Software Maintenance
Corrective Maintenance
The corrective maintenance of a software product may be required to either correct some bugs found while the system is in use or improve the system's performance.
Adaptive Maintenance
It contains modifying or updating the software to match changes in the ever-changing environment. It is required when the customers need the software to work on new platforms, operating systems, or integrate with new hardware and software.
Preventive Maintenance
It is the process by which we keep our system from becoming obsolete. It is based on the concepts of reengineering and reverse engineering, in which an old system with old technology is reengineered with modern technology. This form of maintenance includes software modifications and update problems that are not significant but may cause serious issues in the future.
Perfective Maintenance
A software product requires maintenance to support new features demanded by consumers or update various system functionalities according to consumer expectations. This may include improving existing system functionality, increasing computational efficiency, etc.
See more, Software Engineering
Components of the software maintenance
Change Request
Initially, a change request is made during the maintenance process.
Change Management
The status of all change requests is identified and described here.
Impact Analysis
Following activities are performed here:
- Determine which systems and system products are affected by a change request.
- Estimate the resources required to implement the change.
- Examine the advantages of the change.
System Release Planning
The schedule and content of the software release are planned at this phase.
Change Implementation
Here, changes can be implemented by first planning the changes, then coding for the changes, and then testing the changes.
System Release
During software release, the following points should be described:
- Documentation
- Training
- Software
- Hardware Changes
- Data Conversion
Challenges in Software Maintenance
Lack of Traceability
Codes are almost never traceable to requirements and design standards. It makes it extremely difficult for a programmer to notice and fix a serious defect.
Lack of Code Comments
The majority of software system codes lack suitable comments. Lesser comments are ineffective in certain situations.
Sometimes changes are usually left undocumented, which might lead to more significant issues in the future.
Obsolete Legacy Systems
Older software, designed to run on slower machines with less recollection and storage capability, cannot compete with freshly released, more efficient software on modern-day technology. As time passes, maintaining ancient software programs become more expensive.
FAQs
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What is the process of software maintenance?
The process of upgrading, modifying, and updating software to meet the needs of customers is known as software maintenance. Software maintenance is performed after a product has been released for various purposes, including improving the software overall, addressing errors or bugs, increasing performance, and more.
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What are the types of system maintenance?
There are mainly four types of system maintenance: corrective, adaptive, perfective, and preventive.
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What are the tasks in software maintenance?
Software maintenance is a broad activity that includes optimization, error correction, removing unused features, and improving current features. Because these changes are required, a framework for estimating, controlling, and making changes must be developed.
Key takeaways
In this article, we learned about Software maintenance. We learned that software maintenance is a vital part of the Software Development Life Cycle.
Starting with the definition of software maintenance, we discussed the need for maintenance, types of software maintenance, components of software maintenance, and last but not least, challenges in software maintenance.
Click here to learn about Software Development Lifecycle.
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