Evolving software project knowledge

作为软件开发活动的一部分，会产生大量数据。除了大量的可交付成果(例如，源代码、测试用例)之外，活动的开发组织通常还会生成大量的内部构件，其中包含关于正在构建的软件的知识。内部项目构件可以手动生成(例如，操作指南)，也可以自动生成(例如，执行跟踪)。作为一个整体，作为软件开发活动的一部分产生的构件构成了关于软件项目的重要知识存储库。考虑到软件开发的知识密集型本质，有效利用积累的软件项目知识有可能帮助软件开发组织提高他们的生产力和产品质量。

A significant amount of data gets produced as part of software development activities. In addition to numerous deliverables (e.g., source code, test cases), an active development organization will typically generate numerous internal artifacts that contain knowledge about the software under construction. Internal project artifacts can be generated manually (e.g., how-to guides), or automatically (e.g., execution traces). Considered as a whole, the artifacts produced as part of software development activities constitute an important repository of knowledge about a software project. Given the knowledge-intensive nature of software development, effective use of accumulated software project knowledge has the potential to help software development organizations increase their productivity and the quality of their products.