The Cohesion-Based Requirements Set Model for Improved Information System Maintainability
Joanne E. Hale, David P. Hale, Randy Smith · Journal of the Association for Information Systems · 2006
Complexity and system structure are two factors that have been proven to significantly affect the software maintenance costs incurred over the life of the system.The concept of cohesion, which is normally associated with software design, is commonly used to measure the degree to which elements of a module are related based on the structure of the design.Currently, the responsibility of designing a cohesive system falls solely upon the shoulders of the developer who typically possesses limited knowledge about the system and the environment in which it operates.It is proposed in this research that it may be more advantageous to apply the principle of cohesion at an earlier phase of the software development life cycle, thus placing more responsibility on the analyst who has a better understanding of the business.This paper proposes that by using the CBRS technique, the overall maintainability of the resulting system will be positively affected.