Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!mcvax!ukc!strath-cs!glasgow!orr
From: orr@cs.glasgow.ac.uk (Fraser Orr)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: How will your code look to the hot-shots of 1993?
Keywords: Software Maintenance
Message-ID: <1529@crete.cs.glasgow.ac.uk>
Date: 26 Jul 88 13:07:00 GMT
References: <12398@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> <5623@utah-cs.UUCP>
Reply-To: orr%cs.glasgow.ac.uk@nss.cs.ucl.ac.uk
Organization: Comp Sci, Glasgow Univ, Scotland
Lines: 23

In article <5623@utah-cs.UUCP> shebs%defun.utah.edu.UUCP@utah-cs.UUCP (Stanley T. Shebs) writes:
>In article <12398@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> bks@ALFA.berkeley.edu (Brad Sherman) writes:
>
>>Everyone seems to have a plan for producing good software, but could we
>>have some discussion of how to go about fixing and modifying existing code?
>>[...]  How should a programmer go about internalizing enough of the
>>workings of the system to have a shot at succesful completion?
>
>My preferred practice is to start by making one attempt to read through the
>code to understand it.  If this succeeds, then the code is good.  If not,
>then I start adding comments for the bits I do understand, with lots of

Anyone interested in this approach might like to read Elshoff and Marcotty's
paper on this very subject :-
     Elshoff, James L. and Michael Marcotty, "Improving Computer Program
	      Readability to Aid Modification," CACM, vol. 25, no. 8,
	      pp. 512-521, August 1982.
It is an interesting and worthwhile read for anyone unfortunate enough to have
to maintain other people's programs.

==Fraser Orr ( Dept C.S., Univ. Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK)
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