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 | ||
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Definition | The tendency for an instance of software to become increasingly error prone with time. | |
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