Structural Analysis of the Software Architecture - A Maintenance Assessment Case Study

Architectural erosion is a sign of reduced architectural quality. Quality characteristics of an architecture, such as its ability to accommodate change, are critical for an evolving product. The structure of an architecture is said to be eroded when the software within the architecture becomes resistant to change or changes become risky and time consuming. The objective of our work is to understand the signs of architectural erosion that contribute to decreased maintainability. A maintenance assessment case study is described in which we apply structural measurements to a product to determine signs of architectural erosion. It provides an understanding of a product’s quality by examining the structure of its architecture. The ability to assess architectural erosion in an evolving software product allows the quality of the architecture to be monitored to ensure its business and maintenance goals are achieved.