Title: Software comprehension based on database relational algebra

Authors: Sahel Alouneh; Sa'ed Abed; Bassam Jamil Mohd; Ahmad Al-Khasawneh

Addresses: Computer Engineering Department, German Jordanian University, P.O. Box 35247, Amman 11180, Jordan ' Computer Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Hashemite University, P.O. Box: 150459, Zarqa 13115, Jordan ' Computer Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Hashemite University, P.O. Box: 150459, Zarqa 13115, Jordan ' Department of Computer Information System, Hashemite University, Zarqa 13115, Jordan

Abstract: Execution trace file analysis facilitates software comprehension which is a fundamental part of the software maintenance process. However, the scalability of large execution trace files limits understanding programmes and increases the complexity of the maintenance process. A programme interior representation which reflects the actual data structure is constructed from reduced execution traces. These reduced execution traces are extracted from a profiled run or logs of a programme. As a result, the generated output of these representations can then be easily analysed and visualised. This paper presents an approach to analyse execution trace files using relational database algebra methods to better comprehend and maintain software(s). Furthermore, this work can be helpful in evaluating the software's security using the logs trace files. The proposed approach was tested on real open source software. The results indicate that the proposed approach simplifies software comprehension, and may reduce the execution trace file size for up to 70% of its original size.

Keywords: software maintenance; execution traces; software comprehension; relational databases; logs; execution trace files; relational database algebra; software security; open source software; OSS; file size reduction.

DOI: 10.1504/IJICT.2014.057973

International Journal of Information and Communication Technology, 2014 Vol.6 No.1, pp.58 - 70

Received: 17 Oct 2012
Accepted: 18 Dec 2012
Published online: 26 Jul 2014 *

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