A methodology for integrating maintainability into large-scale software using software metrics

Maintainability must be integrated into software as early in the development life cycle as possible to avoid overwhelming maintenance costs at later stages. This research describes a methodology which assists in the development of maintainable systems and does so without disrupting industry standard development techniques. The process uses software metrics and iterative enhancement concepts to reduce the complexity of high-level language code, making it less error-prone and more maintainable. The experiment uses large-scale system software from a major software producer.