You must keep in mind that all software ages. Another factor to consider is that when change is slow, software will appear aged (or will actually be aged). Dr. Parnas describes this as “Lack of Movement.”
The modern business environment seems to operate on an expectation of continuous change. Responding to changes in the environment quickly shows that a project is healthy and being actively maintained and cared for. In contrast, a product that is slow to change appears to be unsupported and neglected.
The impact can be one of pure perception – for example, software written in the 1960s or 1980s certainly appears aged due to “lack of movement,” even if it would still work perfectly well today. More often, however, lack of movement is a true symptom of aged software. It reflects a failure to keep up with changing environments and users’ needs.
References
- Software Aging Paper by David Parnas
Unless software is frequently updated, its users will become dissatisfied and they will change to a new product as soon as the benefits outweigh the costs of retraining and converting. They will refer to that software as old and outdated.
- Software Aging Slides by David Parnas
- Software Aging – Why it happens and how to reduce it talk by David Parnas
A product that was considered great a few years ago, may not be considered useful although it hasn’t changed. Some products appear (paradoxically) to improve without change. The users learn to avoid the problems.