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Software Engineering as Evolutionary Process

publish date: 2026/05/31 02:47:42.031564 UTC

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Which statement best reflects the modern view of the relationship between software development and software maintenance?

Development and maintenance are completely separate disciplines requiring different teams

Maintenance is less important than development and should receive less investment

Only safety-critical systems require ongoing software evolution

It is more realistic to think of software engineering as an evolutionary process where software is continually changed over its lifetime, making the development/maintenance distinction increasingly irrelevant

Correct Answer

Explanation

The distinction between development and maintenance is increasingly irrelevant. Hardly any software systems are completely new, and it makes much more sense to see development and maintenance as a continuum — an evolutionary process where software is continually changed in response to changing requirements and customer needs.

Reference

Software Engineering, Ian Sommerville, 9th edition

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