Web Commerce Security Design and Development

Portability

In general terms, portability refers to the degree to which an entity can be successfully moved from one domain to another and the amount of effort involved in this transfer process. Portability can apply to software, data, documentation, and development methods. In the context of Web commerce security, portability will be discussed in terms of software.

J. D. Mooney ⁶ defines software portability as follows: “A software unit is portable (exhibits portability) across a class of environments to the degree that the cost to transport and adapt it to a new environment in the class is less than the cost of redevelopment.” This concept is summarized in the following Mooney formula for the degree of portability, DP, of a program:

DP = 1 - (cost to port / cost to redevelop)

Software portability is related to open systems, as illustrated in 1003.1-2004, IEEE Standard for Information Technology— Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) (http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?arnumber=1309818). The standard defines an open system as “a system that implements sufficient open specifications for interfaces, services, and supporting formats to enable properly engineered applications software:

• To be ported across a wide range of systems (with minimal changes)
• To interoperate with other applications on local or remote systems
• To interact with users in a style that facilitates user portability”

Binary code or source code can be designed for portability, although source code ...