Software maintenance in software engineering is the modification of a software product after delivery to correct faults, to improve performance or other attributes.

A common pe****tion of maintenance is that it merely involves fixing defects. However, one study indicated that over 80% of maintenance effort is used for non-corrective actions. This pe****tion is perpetuated by users submitting problem reports that in reality are functionality enhancements to the system. More recent studies put the bug-fixing proportion closer to 21%.