specificationremains

Specificationremains is a neologism used to describe the residual elements of an original project specification that persist in a product after subsequent changes. It encompasses requirements, constraints, data models, interfaces, naming conventions, and test artifacts that continue to influence behavior even when the formal spec has evolved.

These remnants may be explicit, such as legacy requirements still reflected in user stories or acceptance criteria, or implicit, such as code-level assumptions tied to an outdated data model or an interface contract that remains backward compatible.

Causes include scope evolution without full refactoring, backward compatibility requirements, regulatory constraints, and delays in updating documentation. The presence of specificationremains can complicate maintenance by creating discrepancies between current implementation and newer documentation, increasing risk and cognitive load for engineers.

Management involves tracing the lineage of memory artifacts, aligning documentation with implemented behavior, and deciding whether to retire, reconcile, or formalize the remnants. Techniques include requirements traceability matrices, architecture recovery, deprecation plans, and rigorous regression testing to ensure continued compatibility or deliberate change.

Specificationremains intersects with concepts such as requirements drift, design debt, and configuration management. It is a descriptive term rather than a standardized one; its usefulness lies in highlighting how early decisions continue to shape systems long after they were made.