Software and Biological Evolution : Some Common Principles , Mechanisms , and a Definition

In this position paper, we explore some of the principles and mechanisms that are shared by both software evolution and biological evolution. Our goal is to highlight some of the commonalities between them, to point out some interesting questions that are raised, and to engender discussions within the software engineering research community on this topic. Our preliminary discussion suggests that new light can be shed on the nature of software evolution itself, and we hypothesize that further study will lead to a better understanding of the various forces that underlie software evolution. We conclude by proposing a new definition for software evolution that reflects this perspective.