hypothetical question concerning code maintenance--

[JTMOBAP]

This is just a hypothetical question..

Let's say I did a contract project that took 3 - 6 months to develop.,,
and later, the company asked me to do code maintenance on it.

Generally, on average, or in what range of time would it take to complete
the maintenance project for that company?

 

[Hikikomori]

Not sure if I understand you idea of a maintenance project correctly,
but my company does maintenance like it's a kind of software warrantly.
Meaning that for the duration of the maintenance project, the company
will be in charge of fixing things that don't work according to
specification. Since it is essentially a form of warrantly, the
duration is then made arbitary and the company charges the client for
each year of maintenance required.

 

[Virgil Green]

This is just a hypothetical question..

Let's say I did a contract project that took 3 - 6 months to
develop.,, and later, the company asked me to do code maintenance on
it.

Generally, on average, or in what range of time would it take to
complete the maintenance project for that company?

Seven years.

 

[Oscar kind]

This is just a hypothetical question..

Let's say I did a contract project that took 3 - 6 months to develop.,,
and later, the company asked me to do code maintenance on it.

Generally, on average, or in what range of time would it take to complete
the maintenance project for that company?

That depends on a number of factors:
- the quality of the original code,
- the amount of changes the customer wants (if applicable)
- the type of maintenance (support, enhancements, both)
- the length of the maintenance contract

Also note that maintenance contracts are specified in durations, not in
time spent. If the original job was done well, maintenance is just a form
of support.


For support of a well-written program that completely satisfies the
customer, and also runs in a stable environment, the amount of time spent is
neglegible (easy money). This of course, is a dream.

But if a slightly unstable system is all you're dealing with, an quarter
of an hour or so a week is all that's needed.

Bug fixing and enhancements can increase the time to 4 to 40 hours a week,
mostly depending on the amount of changes required and the quality of the
code.