A dynamic model slicing approach for system comprehension during software evolution

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Guan, Hui^a | Yang, Hongji^{b; *} | Wen, Zhaoxin^a | Li, Yang^a

Affiliations: [a] School of Computer Science and Technology, Shenyang University of Chemical Technology, Shenyang 110034, Liaoning, China | [b] Centre for Creative Computing, Bath Spa University, SN130RP, UK

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: Hongji Yang, Centre for Creative Computing, Bath Spa University, SN130RP, UK. E-mail: h.yang@bathspa.ac.uk.

Abstract: Software evolution is an important issue for the development of high-quality software. Explosive development of the Internet demands software being evolved ever rapidly. However, legacy systems are very likely to outgrow the graphical model. As the complexity of systems keep increasing, more nodes and edges are added to the diagram, this lead to the diagram getting less readability. In the meanwhile, it is hard for software reengineers to investigate the legacy system in the higher abstraction view. Therefore, for the strategy of coping with legacy system evolution, this paper proposes a dynamic model slicing approach to facilitate the legacy system evolution. The case study shows the proposed approach is useful and efficient.

Keywords: Software evolution, legacy system, reengineering, model slicing

DOI: 10.3233/MGS-180279

Journal: Multiagent and Grid Systems, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 1-29, 2018