What does it mean when we say that developers spend most of their time figuring the system out?
Why is it important?
And how else could we look at this problem?
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Developers spend most of their time figuring the system out
I am often asked what I mean when I say that developers spend most of their time figuring the system out. Let’s unpack the statement.
The oldest reference on the topic I know of dates back to 1979 in a book by Zelkowitz, Shaw, and Gannon entitled Principles of software engineering and design. It said that most of the development time was spent on maintenance (67%).
Software development costs (1979)
Granted, the book does not specify how the figure was obtained. Still, it was deemed an important enough problem to attract significant research attention since then.