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Chapter 7. Implications
where a software architect needs to select a library to process image
files. An analysis of evolution history can be used to determine if the
change profile suggests some stability. Though, this may not be the
only factor in determining which library to use, this information can
be used to trigger an additional investigation to ensure that the risks
arising from a volatile software system can be adequately mitigated.
7.3 Summary
Change in software systems is unavoidable as they are maintained to
meet the changing needs of the users. Based on the observations in
our study of software evolution we found consistent support for the applicability
and validity of the following laws of software evolution: First
law Continuing Change, third law Self Regulation, fifth law Conservation
of Familiarity, and the sixth law Continuing Growth. However, our analysis
was not able to provide sufficient evidence to show support for the
other laws.
There are a number of implications that arise from our findings. In particular,
we discussed how managers can monitor the changes and trigger
a deeper investigation to explain abnormal changes as well as use
the properties and thresholds identified to reflect on the development
process. We also recommend that managers use the change properties
outlined in Chapter 6 during planning and estimation and present the
implications for software design. Specifically, we argue that reusable
components should be designed to be flexible since our findings suggest
that these components are change-prone.
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