A simulation model of self-organising evolvability in software systems

Stephen Cook; Rachel Harrison; P. Wernick

doi:10.1109/IWSE.2005.2

A simulation model of self-organising evolvability in software systems

Stephen Cook, Rachel Harrison, P. Wernick

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

14 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

The evolvability of a software artifact is its capacity for producing heritable or reusable variants; the inverse quality is the artifact s inertia or resistance to volutionary change. Evolvability in software systems may arise from engineering and/or self-organising processes. We describe our Conditional Growth simulation model of software evolution and show how it can be used to investigate evolvability from a self-organisation perspective. The model is derived from the Bak-Sneppen family of self-organised criticality simulations. It shows good qualitative agreement with Lehman s laws of software evolution and reproduces phenomena that have been observed empirically. The model suggests interesting predictions about the dynamics of evolvability and implies that much of the observed variability in software evolution can be accounted for by comparatively simple self-organising processes.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	IEEE Int Workshop on Software Evolvability 2005
Publisher	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Pages	17-22
ISBN (Print)	0-7695-2460-5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/IWSE.2005.2
Publication status	Published - 2005

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title = "A simulation model of self-organising evolvability in software systems",

abstract = "The evolvability of a software artifact is its capacity for producing heritable or reusable variants; the inverse quality is the artifact s inertia or resistance to volutionary change. Evolvability in software systems may arise from engineering and/or self-organising processes. We describe our Conditional Growth simulation model of software evolution and show how it can be used to investigate evolvability from a self-organisation perspective. The model is derived from the Bak-Sneppen family of self-organised criticality simulations. It shows good qualitative agreement with Lehman s laws of software evolution and reproduces phenomena that have been observed empirically. The model suggests interesting predictions about the dynamics of evolvability and implies that much of the observed variability in software evolution can be accounted for by comparatively simple self-organising processes.",

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AB - The evolvability of a software artifact is its capacity for producing heritable or reusable variants; the inverse quality is the artifact s inertia or resistance to volutionary change. Evolvability in software systems may arise from engineering and/or self-organising processes. We describe our Conditional Growth simulation model of software evolution and show how it can be used to investigate evolvability from a self-organisation perspective. The model is derived from the Bak-Sneppen family of self-organised criticality simulations. It shows good qualitative agreement with Lehman s laws of software evolution and reproduces phenomena that have been observed empirically. The model suggests interesting predictions about the dynamics of evolvability and implies that much of the observed variability in software evolution can be accounted for by comparatively simple self-organising processes.

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DO - 10.1109/IWSE.2005.2

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BT - IEEE Int Workshop on Software Evolvability 2005

PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

ER -

A simulation model of self-organising evolvability in software systems

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