Aimed at improving a programmers ability for altering code to fit changing requirements and for detecting and correcting errors, this book argues for a new way of thinking about maintaining software. It proposes the use of a set of human factors principles that govern the programmer-software-event world interactions and form the core of the maintenance process. The book is thus highly valuable for systems analysts and programmers, managers seeking to reduce costs, researchers looking at solutions to the maintenance problem, and students learning to write clear unambiguous programs.

InhaltsangabeSection I. Facing the Problem.- 1. The Problem.- The Maintenance of Software.- Program Characteristics.- The Maintenance Process.- The Maintenance Environment.- Maintenance Tools.- The Maintainer.- The Software Department.- Summary.- 2. The Approach.- Approach Definition.- Overview.- The Managerial Approach.- The Engineering Approach.- Software Science.- The Cognitive Approach.- Information Science.- Discussion and Summary.- The Nature of the Problem.- Solution Criteria.- Managerial Approach.- Engineering Approach.- Cognitive Approach.- 3. The Attack.- EATPUT-An Information Processing Model.- Software Life Cycle.- Development.- Maintenance.- Plan of Attack.- Strategy.- Tactics.- Using the Plan.- Summary.- Section II. Solutions Through Symbols.- 4. Some Basics.- Procedural Memory.- Processing.- Utilization.- Semantic Memory.- Processing.- Utilization.- Episodic Memory.- Processing.- Utilization.- Summary.- 5. Naming.- The Naming Process.- Event World.- Acquisition.- Transmission.- Processing.- Utilization and Transfer.- Analyzing Names.- Names in Context.- Words in Semantic Memory.- Summary.- 6. Words and Letters.- Symbols in Procedural Memory.- Learning Processing Operations.- Acquisition.- Learning Factors.- Procedural and Semantic Memory Interaction.- Symbols in Semantic Memory.- Recognizing Words.- Recalling Words.- Other Factors in Word Retrieval.- Degrees of Abstraction.- Word Fragments.- "Neighborhood Effect".- Word Use.- Summary.- 7. Abbreviations and Mnemonics.- Abbreviations.- Mnemonics.- Basic Techniques.- Truncation.- Contraction.- Phonics.- Concatenation.- Discussion and Summary.- Truncation.- Contraction.- One-Syllable Words.- Multisyllable Words.- Summary.- 8. Language.- Languages Used by Programmers.- Constrained Languages.- Artificial Languages.- Language Acquisition and Syntax.- Language Usage in Programs.- Indexed Names.- Compound Names.- Parts of Speech.- Abbreviation Techniques.- 9. Language of Mnemonics.- Writing Code for the Maintainers.- Novice Programmers.- Expert Programmers.- Skill Level Comparison.- Organization and Processing.- Memory Organization.- Information Processing.- Maintenance Tasks.- Language of Mnemonics.- The Target Audience.- Naming.- Indices.- Bigrams.- Descriptor Matrices.- The Language in Operation.- Summary.- Section III. Solutions Through Structure.- 10. More on Problem Solving.- Section Overview.- Utilizing Information.- Solving Problems with Gestalt Psychology.- Means-End Analysis.- Problem-Solving Factors.- Problem-Solving Behavior.- The Expert.- The Novice.- Summary.- 11. Solving Maintenance Problems.- Understanding the Maintenance Request.- Program Comprehension.- Processing the Code.- Acquiring Program Knowledge.- Context.- Information-Seeking Strategy.- Information-Seeking Tactics.- Modifying the Code.- Summary.- 12. Other Considerations.- Errors and Barriers.- Errors.- Barriers.- More Novice/Expert Differences.- Memory Contents.- Memory Organization.- Memory Processing.- With Respect to Tasks.- Processing and Storage Limitations.- Communications Theory.- Memory Limitations.- Summary.- 13. Cognitive Structures.- Types of Structure.- Overview.- Global Structure.- Spatial Layout of a Routine.- Horizontal Layout.- Vertical Layout.- Instruction Formats.- The Subroutine Call Statement.- The Read Statement.- The Common Statement.- The Arithmetic Statement.- The Conditional Control (IF) Statement.- The Iteration (Do-Loop) Statement.- The Write Statement.- Documentation.- The Traditional Approach.- A New Approach.- Documentation Content.- Documentation Structure.- Summary and Discussion.- Section IV. Implementation and Testing.- 14. Implementing the Solutions.- In the Development Phase.- Specifications.- Design.- Implementation.- Checkout.- In the Maintenance Phase.- The Decision.- The Restoration.- Program Improvements.- Planning.- Assessing Effectiveness.- Summary.- 15. Testing.- Hardware and Software Testing.- Hardware.- Software.- Software Testing Overview.- Static Testing.- Dyn