MODEL-DRIVEN REVERSE ENGINEERING AND PROGRAM COMPREHENSION: AN EXAMPLE

Open source software systems have poor or inexistent documentation and contributors are often scattered or missing. The reuse-based composition and maintenance of open source software systems therefore implies that program comprehension becomes a critical activity if all the embedded behavior is to be preserved. Program comprehension has traditionally been addressed by reverse engineering techniques which retrieve system design models such as class diagrams. These abstract representations provide a key artifact during migration or evolution. However, this method may retrieve large complex class diagrams which do not ensure a suitable program comprehension. This chapter attempts to improve program comprehension by providing a model-driven reverse engineering technique with which to obtain business processes models that can be used in combination with system design models such as class diagrams. The advantage of this approach is that business processes provide a simple system viewpoint at a higher abstraction level and filter out particular technical details related to source code. The technique is fully developed and tool-supported within an R&D project about global software development in which collaborate two universities and five companies. The automation of the approach facilitates its validation and transference through an industrial case study involving two open source systems.

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Model-Driven Reverse Engineering of Open Source Systems

Computer Systems and Software Engineering ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-3923-0.ch041 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 1029-1051

Author(s):

Ricardo Perez-Castillo ◽

Mario Piattini

Keyword(s):

Reverse Engineering ◽

System Design ◽

Open Source ◽

Business Processes ◽

Program Comprehension ◽

Software Systems ◽

Design Models ◽

Model Driven ◽

Class Diagrams ◽

Open Source Systems

Open source software systems have poor or inexistent documentation and contributors are often scattered or missing. The reuse-based composition and maintenance of open source software systems therefore implies that program comprehension becomes a critical activity if all the embedded behavior is to be preserved. Program comprehension has traditionally been addressed by reverse engineering techniques which retrieve system design models such as class diagrams. These abstract representations provide a key artifact during migration or evolution. However, this method may retrieve large complex class diagrams which do not ensure a suitable program comprehension. This chapter attempts to improve program comprehension by providing a model-driven reverse engineering technique with which to obtain business processes models that can be used in combination with system design models such as class diagrams. The advantage of this approach is that business processes provide a simple system viewpoint at a higher abstraction level and filter out particular technical details related to source code. The technique is fully developed and tool-supported within an R&D project about global software development in which collaborate two universities and five companies. The automation of the approach facilitates its validation and transference through an industrial case study involving two open source systems.

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Model-Driven Reverse Engineering of Open Source Systems

Advances in Business Information Systems and Analytics - Information Systems and Technology for Organizational Agility, Intelligence, and Resilience ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-5970-4.ch007 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 139-160

Author(s):

Ricardo Perez-Castillo ◽

Mario Piattini

Keyword(s):

Reverse Engineering ◽

System Design ◽

Open Source ◽

Business Processes ◽

Program Comprehension ◽

Software Systems ◽

Design Models ◽

Model Driven ◽

Class Diagrams ◽

Open Source Systems

Open source software systems have poor or inexistent documentation and contributors are often scattered or missing. The reuse-based composition and maintenance of open source software systems therefore implies that program comprehension becomes a critical activity if all the embedded behavior is to be preserved. Program comprehension has traditionally been addressed by reverse engineering techniques which retrieve system design models such as class diagrams. These abstract representations provide a key artifact during migration or evolution. However, this method may retrieve large complex class diagrams which do not ensure a suitable program comprehension. This chapter attempts to improve program comprehension by providing a model-driven reverse engineering technique with which to obtain business processes models that can be used in combination with system design models such as class diagrams. The advantage of this approach is that business processes provide a simple system viewpoint at a higher abstraction level and filter out particular technical details related to source code. The technique is fully developed and tool-supported within an R&D project about global software development in which collaborate two universities and five companies. The automation of the approach facilitates its validation and transference through an industrial case study involving two open source systems.

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C2AADL_Reverse: A model-driven reverse engineering approach for development and verification of safety-critical software

Journal of Systems Architecture ◽

10.1016/j.sysarc.2021.102202 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 102202

Author(s):

Zhibin Yang ◽

Zhikai Qiu ◽

Yong Zhou ◽

Zhiqiu Huang ◽

Jean-Paul Bodeveix ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Reverse Engineering ◽

Safety Critical ◽

Model Driven ◽

Engineering Approach

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VAnDroid: A framework for vulnerability analysis of Android applications using a model-driven reverse engineering technique

Software Practice and Experience ◽

10.1002/spe.2643 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 49 (1) ◽

pp. 70-99

Author(s):

Atefeh Nirumand ◽

Bahman Zamani ◽

Behrouz Tork Ladani

Keyword(s):

Reverse Engineering ◽

Vulnerability Analysis ◽

Model Driven ◽

Engineering Technique ◽

Android Applications

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Reverse Engineering of Object-Oriented Code

Computer Systems and Software Engineering ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-3923-0.ch060 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 1479-1502

Author(s):

Liliana Favre ◽

Liliana Martinez ◽

Claudia Pereira

Keyword(s):

Reverse Engineering ◽

Information Integration ◽

Object Oriented ◽

Research Area ◽

Model Driven ◽

Management Group ◽

Engineering Models ◽

Software Modernization ◽

New Research ◽

Abstraction Levels

Software modernization is a new research area in the software industry that is intended to provide support for transforming an existing software system to a new one that satisfies new demands. Software modernization requires technical frameworks for information integration and tool interoperability that allow managing new platform technologies, design techniques, and processes. To meet these demands, Architecture-Driven Modernization (ADM) has emerged as the new OMG (Object Management Group) initiative for modernization. Reverse engineering techniques play a crucial role in system modernization. This chapter describes the state of the art in the model-driven modernization area, reverse engineering in particular. A framework to reverse engineering models from object-oriented code that distinguishes three different abstraction levels linked to models, metamodels, and formal specification is described. The chapter includes an analysis of technologies that support ADM standards and provides a summary of the principles that can be used to govern current modernization efforts.

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