A-Z Popular Blog Software Quality Search »
Hardcoding vs Softcoding
 Advertisements
Related Guides
Software Quality

What is Software Entropy?

 , updated on
Software entropy is the tendency for an instance of installed software to decline in quality with time.

Second Law of Thermodynamics

A principle of physics known as the Second Law of Thermodynamics states that the total entropy of an isolated system increases over time. In other words, systems move from an ordered state to a disordered state over time. This process is potentially irreversible.
Installed software goes into decline due to factors such as error rates in data storage devices. Complex software such as operating systems that are continually updating configuration files and state data are particularly likely to go in decline with time on a particular machine. Even if the software itself makes no mistakes, an unlikely scenario, errors in the computing devices on which it relies eventually lead to a decline.

Software Entropy vs Technical Debt

Software entropy can often be fixed by installing a fresh copy of software on a new machine. It should not be confused with quality issues with code itself such as technical debt.
Overview: Software Entropy
Type
Definition
The tendency for an instance of software to become increasingly error prone with time.
Related Concepts
More about software quality:
Availability
IT Examples
Quality
Software Quality
If you enjoyed this page, please consider bookmarking Simplicable.
 

Software Quality

A list of software quality factors.

Design Debt

An overview of design debt.

Software Quality

A list of software quality factors.

Software Examples

An overview of software with real-world examples.

Types of Technology

A reasonably comprehensive list of information technologies.

Gamification

A list of gamification techniques.

Information Technology Problems

A list of common IT problems.

Types Of Cloud

The basic types of cloud computing.

Machine Data

The common types of machine data.

Types Of Software

The common types of software.

Proprietary Technology

A definition of proprietary technology with examples.

Systems Design

The common elements of a systems design.

Systems vs Applications

The difference between systems and applications explained.
The most popular articles on Simplicable in the past day.

New Articles

Recent posts or updates on Simplicable.
Site Map