Security for Web Developers

Part IV. Implementing a Maintenance Cycle

Software can and does break. If nothing else, it gets old or stops interacting with newer hardware. In some cases, users outgrow the software or find that it no longer meets their needs. The new, exciting, and brightly polished piece of code you deliver today will soon turn rusty and decay into a has-been of yesterday’s code—a museum piece that people will gawk at if it becomes famous enough. It’s hard to hear that your code will eventually end up on the trash heap after spending so much time and sweat putting it together. Of course, you can avoid this destiny entirely by simply maintaining your code, which is the point of this part of the book. If you truly want your application to provide service for as long as possible, you must have a plan in place for keeping it viable from the outset.

This part of the book breaks the task of maintaining software into three distinct parts: determining when to update the software (Chapter 13), deciding how to perform the update (Chapter 14), and using reports to monitor the update requirement (Chapter 15). By following this three-part process, you can keep your application bright and shiny so that people will continue to admire and use it successfully.