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Obstacles to Software Maintenance

We define a defect as an error or omission in the source code of a computer program that may cause it to malfunction. It is not always possible to identify defects directly, but there are usually patterns indicating that defects are present. We refer to these patterns as defect indicators, or obstacles to maintenance.

Through analysis of research papers and from extensive experience in performing code inspections, peer reviews, and walkthroughs, IfSQ has identified the following categories of defect indicator: