Title :
A case study on the long-term effects of software redocumentation
Author :
Rostkowycz, Alexander J. ; Rajlich, Václav ; Marcus, Andrian
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Comput. Sci., Wayne State Univ., Detroit, MI, USA
Abstract :
This work presents data from a long-term (four year) case study of the effects of incremental software redocumentation of data communications services software that is a part of a check processing system. It presents data on the relative cost and completeness of the incremental redocumentation and its impact on programmer productivity and cost of the software change. The break-even point occurred after 1.5 years of effort, which means that the extra investment in redocumentation started paying off after 1.5 years of redocumentation activity.
Keywords :
data communication; software cost estimation; system documentation; check processing system; data communications services software; redocumentation activity; software redocumentation; Communication system software; Computer aided software engineering; Computer science; Costs; Data communication; Documentation; Productivity; Programming profession; Software maintenance; Web sites;
Conference_Titel :
Software Maintenance, 2004. Proceedings. 20th IEEE International Conference on
Print_ISBN :
0-7695-2213-0
DOI :
10.1109/ICSM.2004.1357794
