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From: UH2@PSUVM.BITNET (Lee Sailer)
Newsgroups: comp.sw.components,comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: Maintenance
Message-ID: <89293.123415UH2@PSUVM.BITNET>
Date: 20 Oct 89 16:34:15 GMT
References: <1337@accuvax.nwu.edu> <172@isgtec.UUCP>
Organization: Penn State University
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One hears the phrase, "Maintenance through redesign."  The idea is that to
modify a program, one goes back to the analysis and design documents, e.g.,
Data Flow Diagrams, Logical Data Models, Structure Charts, or whatever and
makes the modifications there, moving step by step through the entire process
til the coding stage is reached.

On the other hand, to many practitioners, maintenance means jumping in and
hacking the code.

It seems to me that the first type of M-- would be very educational, and a good
way to bring a new hire up to speed on local customs, the nature of the
system, and so forth.

                     lee