Forensic software engineering refers to the discipline of analyzing (and sometimes reconstructing) the functionality of
software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
...
applications or services that have become defunct; are no longer accompanied by, or previously lacked, documentation; or for which the original
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...
s are no longer available.
Description
Usually, forensic
software engineering
Software engineering is a systematic engineering approach to software development.
A software engineer is a person who applies the principles of software engineering to design, develop, maintain, test, and evaluate computer software. The term '' ...
is performed with an interest in understanding the functionality - and sometimes intent - of software that has been abandoned by its creators, with an eye to correcting unexpected outcomes or determining whether to port, rebuild, replace, or retire a functional software instance.
[Johnson, Chri]
"Forensic Software Engineering: Are Software Failures Symptomatic of Systemic Problems?"
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Is often required as a result of a corporate mergers or acquisitions, or during the migration/transition from an old datacenter
A data center (American English) or data centre (British English)See spelling differences. is a building, a dedicated space within a building, or a group of buildings used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunic ...
to a newer one.
See also
* Charles Babbage Institute
The IT History Society (ITHS) is an organization that supports the history and scholarship of information technology by encouraging, fostering, and facilitating archival and historical research. Formerly known as the Charles Babbage Foundation, ...
* History of operating systems
Computer operating systems (OSes) provide a set of functions needed and used by most application programs on a computer, and the links needed to control and synchronize computer hardware. On the first computers, with no operating system, every p ...
* IT History Society
The IT History Society (ITHS) is an organization that supports the history and scholarship of information technology by encouraging, fostering, and facilitating archival and historical research. Formerly known as the Charles Babbage Foundation, ...
* List of operating systems
This is a list of operating systems. Computer operating systems can be categorized by technology, ownership, licensing, working state, usage, and by many other characteristics. In practice, many of these groupings may overlap. Criteria for inclusio ...
* Timeline of operating systems
This article presents a timeline of events in the history of computer operating systems from 1951 to the current day. For a narrative explaining the overall developments, see the History of operating systems.
1950s
* 1951
** LEO I 'Lyons Electro ...
References
Engineering disciplines
Software engineering
Software engineering is a systematic engineering approach to software development.
A software engineer is a person who applies the principles of software engineering to design, develop, maintain, test, and evaluate computer software. The term '' ...
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