This guide is designed for federal executives and managers who have a responsibility for the planning and management of software projects and for federal staff members who are affected by, or involved in, making software changes, and who need to be aware of steps that can reduce both the difficulty and cost of software maintenance. Organized in a question and answer format, the guide provides answers to 64 questions that address: (1) the feasibility and applicability of software reuse; (2) the development of maintainable software; (3) the improvement of existing software; (4) achieving programmer and software productivity; (5) the three key attributes of maintainable software--correctness, understandability, and reliability; and (6) software configuration management (SCM), including software tools that can aid in making existing code more maintainable. Also included are a list of supporting ICST (Institute for Computer Sciences and Technology) documents and eight suggested additional readings. (JB)