Empirical studies of evolving systems

Abstract

This paper describes the results of the working group investigating the issues of empirical studies for evolving systems. The groups found that there were many issues that were central to successful evolution and this concluded that this is a very important area within software engineering. Finally nine main areas were selected for consideration. For each of these areas the central issues were identified as well as success factors. In some cases success stories were also described and the critical factors accounting for the success analyzed. In some cases it was later found that a number of areas were so tightly coupled that it was important to discuss them together.