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Solving the Status Problem of Maintenance

publish date: 2026/06/24 21:16:14.081921 UTC

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According to the text, what is the only long-term solution to the problem of organizations treating development and maintenance as separate, unequal activities?

Thinking of systems as evolving throughout their lifetime through a continual development process, giving maintenance the same status as new development

Replacing all maintenance staff with automated AI tools that require no human oversight

Requiring every company to use exactly the same programming language forever

Permanently banning all software maintenance activities

Correct Answer

Thinking of systems as evolving throughout their lifetime through a continual development process, giving maintenance the same status as new development

Explanation

The long-term solution is to think of systems as evolving throughout their lifetime through a continual development process, where maintenance has as high a status as new software development. This reframing addresses the root causes of many maintenance cost problems.

Reference

Software Engineering, Ian Sommerville, 10th edition

Quizzes you can take where this question appears

Why Maintenance Costs More Than New Development