Software Evolution - Exercises

A company relies on a payment processing subsystem that uses an encryption protocol that has since been deprecated industry-wide due to discovered vulnerabilities. Why does this kind of technology advance force the subsystem to change or risk becoming useless?

A change request arrives proposing that a system add support for a new payment method. Which of the following activities would typically be part of the change impact analysis subprocess before this change is approved? Select all that apply.

An organization wants to replace an old inventory system, believing it only needs to replicate the existing source code's logic in a modern language. Why might this narrow view cause the replacement project to fail?

A subsystem has been classified as 'low quality, high business value' - it is critical to daily operations but is expensive and risky to change. Which of the following approaches would help reengineer such a subsystem while minimizing impact on ongoing operations? Select all that apply.

True or False: One of the recognized strategic options for legacy system management is to replace all or part of a system, and this option is typically appropriate when off-the-shelf software would let the new system be developed at reasonable cost, or when factors like new hardware mean the old system can no longer continue operating.

A company's legacy system depends on a database engine whose vendor has gone out of business, leaving no security patches or technical support available. How might this support software problem force the organization to replace its legacy system?

A project manager at a software company wants to set up a program to analyze the maintenance process and determine appropriate maintainability metrics. Which of the following would be reasonable first steps? Select all that apply.

A development team fixes a bug that was only discovered because a user used the system in an unanticipated way, and the fix also involves accommodating that new way of working. Which two types of maintenance does this scenario illustrate are difficult to fully separate?

A software engineer is under deadline pressure and considers taking shortcuts that would make the code harder to maintain in the future, even though the employer has not explicitly requested high maintainability. Which of the following are reasonable professional considerations in this situation? Select all that apply.