the activity of contributing to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose; "he gave me an assist with the housework"; "could not walk without assistance"; "rescue party went to their aid"; "offered his help in unloading"
                         Often used to mean the continued support of a program or system of programs once they have been written and released. Programs need to be written with maintenance in mind because maintenance is generally done by someone other than the original author.