Evaluating the Role of Software Visualization Techniques as Assistant Tools in Software Reverse Engineering

Authors

  • Abdullah O. Al-Zaghameem

Abstract

Software reverse engineering is an important process for software maintenance andupgrading. The process includes analyzing existing software to identify its structuralcomponents and the relationships between them. Presenting software components,relationships, and data to the reverse engineer visually is considered as essential andvital technique. This paper explores and evaluates the role of software visualizationtechniques in software reverse engineering process. An evaluation model is constructed,which consists of quantitative and qualitative measurement sets. The evaluation model isapplied on six software visualization tools that are used to reclaim the structural designof object oriented software. The results reveal a real need to enhance softwarevisualization tools to play a better role in software reverse engineering.

Published

2018-10-31

Issue

Section

Articles