A Genetic Algorithm for the Generation of Software Maintenance Release Plans without Human Bias

Abstract

Deciding what defect fixes and enhancements go into a maintenance release can be a difficult and complex task. This paper will discuss a technique that applies the use of a genetic algorithm (GA) during the software maintenance phase of the system development life cycle. The application of GA use in optimizing maintenance release packages will be designed to find a solution that returns the best value in terms of cost, time, and critical requests being addressed. This paper describes an algorithm that allows the input of weighted values; category of the maintenance request, severity of the maintenance request, time to develop the maintenance request, and the promised delivery date of maintenance request. More specifically, the GA will be tested by varying the mutation rate and limiting maintenance requests that can be delivered within 60 days to create optimized maintenance release package to satisfy the solution.