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An introduction to software maintainability; and why you need it.

|Reliability Engineering

By Rachel Scott and Jarrod Chesher

Maintaining software is a critical part of any software development process, but what is software maintainability and how do you measure it? In this article, we will discuss the different types of software maintenance and how to calculate maintainability metrics. 

For broader context on maintenance planning, explore our guide: How to package maintenance tasks for maximum efficiency.

What is software maintainability?

Software maintainability is the degree to which a software system can be maintained in a timely and effective manner. There are many factors that contribute to software maintainability, including code quality, documentation, architecture, and test coverage. To measure software maintainability, you can use various metrics, such as code complexity measures or static analysis tools.

Types of software maintenance

There are two main types of software maintenance: corrective and preventive. Corrective maintenance is performed in response to a problem or defect, while preventive maintenance is performed in order to avoid problems or defects.

In addition, there are two other types:

  • Perfective maintenance, which is performed in order to improve the quality of the software system
  • Adaptive maintenance, which is performed in order to keep the software system up-to-date with changes in the environment, such as changes in operating systems or hardware

Software maintainability metrics

There are many ways to improve the maintainability of your software. Some common approaches include refactoring code, improving documentation, and using design patterns. 

To learn more about achieving long-term sustainability, read our article on The ultimate guide to highly available systems.

Setting and measuring maintainability metrics can help to improve the maintainability of your software. Consider using the following 5 software maintainability metrics:

1. Cyclomatic complexity

Cyclomatic complexity is a measure of the number of independent paths through a program's source code. A high cyclomatic complexity indicates a complex program that is difficult to understand and maintain.

2. Halstead complexity measures

Halstead complexity measures are used to estimate the difficulty of understanding and maintaining a software system. The measures include the number of unique operators and operands, the total number of operators and operands, and the length of the longest operator or operand.

3. Maintainability index

The maintainability index is a measure of how easy it is to maintain a software system. The index is calculated using a formula that takes into account various factors, such as code complexity and the number of bugs.

4. Code coverage

Code coverage is a measure of how much of the code is executed when the tests are run. A high code coverage indicates that most of the code is being tested and that there are few areas of the code that are not covered by tests.

5. Changeability

Changeability is a measure of how easy it is to make changes to the code. A high changeability indicates that the code is easy to modify and that few changes will break the system.

There are many factors that contribute to software maintainability. By improving these factors, you can make your software more maintainable and easier to understand and maintain.

To learn more about how software maintainability can benefit your operations, contact our team to discuss your specific needs and requirements.

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