2.3-maintainability

Question 1

What is maintenance?

Answer 1

Programs often need to change over time in order to:

correct errors (corrective maintenance)

modify in order to prevent errors occurring in the future (preventative maintenance)

adapt to new working practices (adaptive maintenance)

keep the program up to date and working well (perfective maintenance).

Question 2

What are subprograms?

Answer 2

When program code is written, often sections are repeated, such as tests on inputs.
These sections of code can be saved as a subprogram, given a name, and be used over and over without having to reinvent or rewrite them each time they are needed. Doesn’t effect the rest of the program.

Question 3

What is naming conventions?

Answer 3

Naming conventions help maintenance by making it easier to identify the different uses of words
in the program.

Question 4

Why is indentation important?

Answer 4

Indentation is important because it:
makes source code easier to read
makes the beginning and ending of loops easier to follow
makes different sections of the code clear to the programmer.

Question 5

Why is commenting important?

Answer 5

Commenting is important because it makes it obvious to:
the programmer, revisiting the program in the future
another programmer, maintaining the program in the future
other members of the team, working on the same code / project.