Economic models of software engineering and the software maintenance crisis

Author

Wang, Yingxu

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Calgary Univ., Alta.

fYear

2005

fDate

1-4 May 2005

Firstpage

1827

Lastpage

1830

Abstract

This paper presents a transdisciplinary study on economic models of software engineering and their formal description. It is recognized that the adaptive equilibrium of market systems is rooted in the negative feedback mechanism of demands and supplies. A mathematical model of economic equilibrium developed in this paper provides a formal proof of Adam Smith´s genius hypothesis of ´invisible hand´ proposed in 1776. A set of mathematical models is developed for dynamic cost analyses and for estimation of economical outcomes of software engineering projects. A significant phenomenon in software engineering known as the software maintenance crisis is identified, and possible solutions are proposed. The risks and impacts of software maintenance crisis are too high to be ignored when the society is highly dependent on various software systems

Keywords

economics; feedback; mathematical analysis; software maintenance; Adam Smith genius hypothesis; adaptive equilibrium; dynamic cost analyses; economic models; economical outcomes estimation; formal description; invisible hand; market systems; negative feedback mechanism; software engineering; software maintenance crisis; Costs; Drives; Force feedback; Mathematical model; Negative feedback; Resists; Software engineering; Software maintenance; Software systems; State estimation;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Electrical and Computer Engineering, 2005. Canadian Conference on

Conference_Location

Saskatoon, Sask.

ISSN

0840-7789

Print_ISBN

0-7803-8885-2

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/CCECE.2005.1557337

Filename

1557337