6533b82efe1ef96bd1293154

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Analysis of Ten Reverse Engineering Tools

Jussi KoskinenTero Lehmonen

subject

Reverse engineeringJavabusiness.industryImagix 4DComputer scienceLegacy systemInformation needsJavadocSoftware maintenancecomputer.software_genreData structureData miningSoftware engineeringbusinesscomputercomputer.programming_language

description

Reverse engineering tools can be used in satisfying the information needs of software maintainers. Especially in case of maintaining large-scale legacy systems tool support is essential. Reverse engineering tools provide various kinds of capabilities to provide the needed information to the tool user. In this paper we analyze the provided capabilities in terms of four aspects: provided data structures, visualization mechanisms, information request specification mechanisms, and navigation features. We provide a compact analysis of ten representative reverse engineering tools for supporting C, C++ or Java: Eclipse Java Development Tools, Wind River Workbench (for C and C++), Understand (for C++), Imagix 4D, Creole, Javadoc, Javasrc, Source Navigator, Doxygen, and HyperSoft. The results of the study supplement the earlier findings in this important area.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2009-12-15
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3660-5_67