Evolutionary domains: a basis for sound software evolution

Though significant amount of work has been done so far, software evolution problem is still a challenge. It is not only due to the inherent difficulty of changing complex objects such as software, but also it comes from the fact that evolution activities are not performed properly. In this paper, aiming at establishing a sound and scientific basis for software evolution, we propose a general framework of software evolution. It is based on the concept of evolutionary domains and evolutionary development between them. We consider that this will serve as a reference model of software evolution and can be used for evaluating, assessing and guiding evolution activities.