A work on software engineering by Ivar Jacobson et al. describes software entropy as follows:
- A computer program that is used will be modified
- When a program is modified, its complexity will increase, provided that one does not actively work against this.
Andrew Hunt and David Thomas use Fixing Broken Windows as a metaphor for avoiding software entropy in software development.
The process of code refactoring can result in stepwise reductions in software entropy.
Software entropy is increased with accumulation of technical debt.
References
Software entropy Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA