Geriatric systems: the need for reverse engineering

Author

Miller, Robert L. ; Morley, JoAnn

Author_Institution

Century Technol. Inc., Beavercreek, OH, USA

Volume

2

fYear

1996

fDate

20-23 May 1996

Firstpage

497

Abstract

Much of the existing business application software in the world today was written in the late 1960s and early 1970s during the computer industry´s explosive growth period. Now 25 to 35 years old, much of this software has exceeded its life expectancy; it is a “legacy” from the past. There are similarities in the problem of aging in humans and the problem of aging software. This paper examines the software aging process, draws some comparisons from the field of gerontology and discusses the need for reverse engineering methodologies to cope with geriatric software. Research related to reverse engineering and the availability of tools to support reverse engineering are also discussed

Keywords

ageing; reverse engineering; software maintenance; software tools; application software; gerontology; reverse engineering; software aging; software development; software maintenance; Aging; Application software; Diseases; Geriatrics; Gerontology; Humans; Information processing; Reverse engineering; Senior citizens; Software maintenance;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Aerospace and Electronics Conference, 1996. NAECON 1996., Proceedings of the IEEE 1996 National

Conference_Location

Dayton, OH

ISSN

0547-3578

Print_ISBN

0-7803-3306-3

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/NAECON.1996.517695

Filename

517695