Graham Jenson
Doctor of Philosophy, (Computer Science)
Study Completed: 2013
College of Sciences
Citation
Thesis Title
A Study of Software Component System Evolution
Read article at Massey Research Online: 
Software systems can be created by composing reusable software components together. Such systems can be relatively cheap to develop and maintain. An example of such a system is the Ubuntu operating system, which has an estimated 20 million users. Over time these users will repeatedly change their systems to accommodate new requirements, fix errors, and prevent errors from occurring. This continual change causes these software systems to evolve. Mr Jenson investigated this evolution of component based software systems in an attempt to reduce its negative effects, such as the out-of-dateness of systems. He developed and used a simulation of the evolution of Ubuntu systems. Two novel methods for reducing some of the negative effects of the evolution of component based software systems were proposed and shown to be effective. These methods could be used to reduce the negative effects of the evolution of the millions of component systems currently evolving.
Supervisors
Associate Professor Jens Dietrich
Professor Hans Guesgen