Lehman´s Laws and the Productivity of Increments: Implications for Productivity

Which are the consequences of Lehman´s Laws of Software Evolution for the productivity of incrementally developed projects? The concept of Incremental Development Productivity Decline (IDPD), which deals with how the productivity of incrementally developed software develops over its increments, is introduced. It is explained how Lehman´s Laws of Software Evolution apply to it and how maintenance and reuse are relevant to both. Every Law of Software Evolution is discussed individually from a qualitative standpoint with regard to whether it could be a cause of IDPD. After that discussion, the overall situation is examined in light of how different courses of action cause which laws to apply different degrees of effects.