Models and evolution: An introduction to the special issue

As any other software artifact models are prone to evolution. Changes can be motivated by numerous factors, including technical changes due to technological shifts, and new insights and requirements emerging from the application domain. Changes typically occur at any level in the abstraction hierarchy, from requirements through design models, to source code, documentation and test suites. This special issue describes several approach to leverage the management of changes by means of suitable models, techniques, and tools for coping with changes that accompany the natural evolution of software.