Introduction to the 4th international ERCIM workshop on software evolution and evolvability (Evol ’08)

Research in software evolution and evolvability has been thriving in recent years, with a stream of new formalisms, tools, techniques and development methodologies. Some of these new techniques aim to facilitate the way long-lived successful software systems can be changed in order to cope with demands from users, as well as the increasing complexity and volatility of the contexts in which such systems operate. Others aim to improve our understanding, and if possible improve our control, of the processes by which demand for these changes come about.