DSketch: lightweight, adaptable dependency analysis

Abstract

Software developers who extend or repair existing software systems spend considerable effort in understanding how their modifications will require follow-on changes in order to work correctly. Tool support for this process is available for single, popular languages, but does not suffice for less popular languages, uncommon language variants, or arbitrary combinations of languages and connection technologies. We have created the DSketch tool so that developers can create a lightweight pattern specification for how dependencies can be heuristically identified in their systems. We performed two case studies involving industrial developers who applied our tool for conducting polylingual dependency analysis in software systems; the developers found it easy to configure the tool for their needs, were able to adapt their patterns to new contexts, and had sufficiently accurate dependency predictions for their work.

BibTeX

@inproceedings{Cossette-Walker:FSE10,
  author    = {Bradley Cossette and
               Robert J. Walker},
  title     = {{DSketch:} lightweight, adaptable dependency analysis},
  booktitle = {FSE},
  pages     = {297--306},
  publisher = {{ACM}},
  year      = {2010},
}

DSketch: lightweight, adaptable dependency analysis

Abstract

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