Final answer:
Post-delivery maintenance is complex due to latent defects, altering user requirements, and the challenge of working on an existing codebase. It carries a higher risk and cost as compared to initial development, including potential extensive debugging, system testing, and deployment needs.
Step-by-step explanation:
Post-delivery maintenance is often considered the most challenging aspect of software production due to several factors. These include the need to correct any latent defects that weren't identified during the development process, handling unexpected system usage scenarios, and responding to altered user requirements as experience with the software grows.
Additionally, maintenance work generally carries a higher risk and cost compared to the original software development phase. It can be more complex, as it deals with an existing, often large, codebase that the maintenance team may not have been involved in creating. This is further complicated by the need to prevent the introduction of new errors while correcting the old ones.
In terms of expenses, software maintenance can even surpass the development cost. It may require extensive debugging or rewriting of the code, system testing, and deployment arrangements, contributing to the overall project cost.
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