System-level Usage Dependency Analysis of Object-Oriented Systems

Uncovering, modelling, and understanding architectural level dependencies of software systems is a key task for software maintainers. However, current dependency analysis techniques for object-oriented software are targeted at the class or method level; this is because most dependencies — such as instantiates, references, and calls — must be interpreted in the context of one or more class hierarchies. In this paper, we propose an approach, called the Highlevel Object Dependency Graph (HODG), that captures all possible usage dependencies among coarse-grained entities. Based on the new model, we further propose a set of dependency analysis methods. Finally, we present an exploratory case study using HODGs — supported by an automated analysis tool — of the Apache Ant build system; we show how HODG analysis can help maintainers capture external properties of coarse-grained entities, and better understand the nature of their interdependencies.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2007
• Where: ICSM
• Authors: Xinyi Dong, Michael W. Godfrey
• Keywords: Coarse-grained Entities, Dependency Analysis, Dependency Analysis Techniques, ICSM 2007, Software Engineering