Five properties of software regimes that affect engineering potential and practical interest

The notion of software regimes is presented. By understanding the regimes and the properties which allow them to support engineering activities, the authors are in a better position to create true software engineering environments. A regime´s ability to support engineering activities is affected by five properties: completeness, consistency, understanding, scope, and mapping complexity. The authors outline three approaches for representing software regimes. The five properties are defined using these representations. The authors define the notion of a regime´s engineering potential and its practical interest. Some important benefits of establishing complete and consistent regimes are discussed