Assessing the complexity of upgrading software modules

B. Schoenmakers; N. Broek, van den; I. Nagy; B.N. Vasilescu; A. Serebrenik

doi:10.1109/WCRE.2013.6671319

Assessing the complexity of upgrading software modules

B. Schoenmakers, N. Broek, van den, I. Nagy, B.N. Vasilescu, A. Serebrenik

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

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Abstract

Modern software development frequently involves developing multiple codelines simultaneously. Improvements to one codeline should often be applied to other codelines as well, which is typically a time consuming and error-prone process. In order to reduce this (manual) effort, changes are applied to the system's modules and those affected modules are upgraded on the target system. This is a more coarse-grained approach than upgrading the affected files only. However, when a module is upgraded, one must make sure that all its dependencies are still satisfied. This paper proposes an approach to assess the ease of upgrading a software system. An algorithm was developed to compute the smallest set of upgrade dependencies, given the current version of a module and the version it has to be upgraded to. Furthermore, a visualization has been designed to explain why upgrading one module requires upgrading many additional modules. A case study has been performed at ASML to study the ease of upgrading the TwinScan software. The analysis shows that removing elements from interfaces leads to many additional upgrade dependencies. Moreover, based on our analysis we have formulated a number improvement suggestions such as a clear separation between the test code and the production code as well as an introduction of a structured process of symbols deprecation and removal. Keywords: Software, Heating, Visualization, Algorithm design and analysis, Stress, Image color analysis, Complexity theory

Original language	English
Title of host publication	20th Working Conference on Reverse Engineering (WCRE'13, Koblenz, Germany, October 14-17, 2013)
Editors	R. Lämmel, W.B. Langdon, W. Weimer
Place of Publication	Piscataway
Publisher	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Pages	433-440
ISBN (Print)	978-1-4799-2931-3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/WCRE.2013.6671319
Publication status	Published - 2013
Event	conference; 20th Working Conference on Reverse Engineering; 2013-10-14; 2013-10-17 - Duration: 14 Oct 2013 → 17 Oct 2013

Conference

Conference	conference; 20th Working Conference on Reverse Engineering; 2013-10-14; 2013-10-17
Period	14/10/13 → 17/10/13
Other	20th Working Conference on Reverse Engineering

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Schoenmakers, B., Broek, van den, N., Nagy, I., Vasilescu, B. N., & Serebrenik, A. (2013). Assessing the complexity of upgrading software modules. In R. Lämmel, W. B. Langdon, & W. Weimer (Eds.), 20th Working Conference on Reverse Engineering (WCRE'13, Koblenz, Germany, October 14-17, 2013) (pp. 433-440). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. https://doi.org/10.1109/WCRE.2013.6671319

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title = "Assessing the complexity of upgrading software modules",

abstract = "Modern software development frequently involves developing multiple codelines simultaneously. Improvements to one codeline should often be applied to other codelines as well, which is typically a time consuming and error-prone process. In order to reduce this (manual) effort, changes are applied to the system's modules and those affected modules are upgraded on the target system. This is a more coarse-grained approach than upgrading the affected files only. However, when a module is upgraded, one must make sure that all its dependencies are still satisfied. This paper proposes an approach to assess the ease of upgrading a software system. An algorithm was developed to compute the smallest set of upgrade dependencies, given the current version of a module and the version it has to be upgraded to. Furthermore, a visualization has been designed to explain why upgrading one module requires upgrading many additional modules. A case study has been performed at ASML to study the ease of upgrading the TwinScan software. The analysis shows that removing elements from interfaces leads to many additional upgrade dependencies. Moreover, based on our analysis we have formulated a number improvement suggestions such as a clear separation between the test code and the production code as well as an introduction of a structured process of symbols deprecation and removal. Keywords: Software, Heating, Visualization, Algorithm design and analysis, Stress, Image color analysis, Complexity theory",

author = "B. Schoenmakers and {Broek, van den}, N. and I. Nagy and B.N. Vasilescu and A. Serebrenik",

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Schoenmakers, B, Broek, van den, N, Nagy, I, Vasilescu, BN & Serebrenik, A 2013, Assessing the complexity of upgrading software modules. in R Lämmel, WB Langdon & W Weimer (eds), 20th Working Conference on Reverse Engineering (WCRE'13, Koblenz, Germany, October 14-17, 2013). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Piscataway, pp. 433-440, conference; 20th Working Conference on Reverse Engineering; 2013-10-14; 2013-10-17, 14/10/13. https://doi.org/10.1109/WCRE.2013.6671319

Assessing the complexity of upgrading software modules. / Schoenmakers, B.; Broek, van den, N.; Nagy, I. et al.

20th Working Conference on Reverse Engineering (WCRE'13, Koblenz, Germany, October 14-17, 2013). ed. / R. Lämmel; W.B. Langdon; W. Weimer. Piscataway : Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2013. p. 433-440.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - Assessing the complexity of upgrading software modules

AU - Schoenmakers, B.

AU - Broek, van den, N.

AU - Nagy, I.

AU - Vasilescu, B.N.

AU - Serebrenik, A.

PY - 2013

Y1 - 2013

N2 - Modern software development frequently involves developing multiple codelines simultaneously. Improvements to one codeline should often be applied to other codelines as well, which is typically a time consuming and error-prone process. In order to reduce this (manual) effort, changes are applied to the system's modules and those affected modules are upgraded on the target system. This is a more coarse-grained approach than upgrading the affected files only. However, when a module is upgraded, one must make sure that all its dependencies are still satisfied. This paper proposes an approach to assess the ease of upgrading a software system. An algorithm was developed to compute the smallest set of upgrade dependencies, given the current version of a module and the version it has to be upgraded to. Furthermore, a visualization has been designed to explain why upgrading one module requires upgrading many additional modules. A case study has been performed at ASML to study the ease of upgrading the TwinScan software. The analysis shows that removing elements from interfaces leads to many additional upgrade dependencies. Moreover, based on our analysis we have formulated a number improvement suggestions such as a clear separation between the test code and the production code as well as an introduction of a structured process of symbols deprecation and removal. Keywords: Software, Heating, Visualization, Algorithm design and analysis, Stress, Image color analysis, Complexity theory

AB - Modern software development frequently involves developing multiple codelines simultaneously. Improvements to one codeline should often be applied to other codelines as well, which is typically a time consuming and error-prone process. In order to reduce this (manual) effort, changes are applied to the system's modules and those affected modules are upgraded on the target system. This is a more coarse-grained approach than upgrading the affected files only. However, when a module is upgraded, one must make sure that all its dependencies are still satisfied. This paper proposes an approach to assess the ease of upgrading a software system. An algorithm was developed to compute the smallest set of upgrade dependencies, given the current version of a module and the version it has to be upgraded to. Furthermore, a visualization has been designed to explain why upgrading one module requires upgrading many additional modules. A case study has been performed at ASML to study the ease of upgrading the TwinScan software. The analysis shows that removing elements from interfaces leads to many additional upgrade dependencies. Moreover, based on our analysis we have formulated a number improvement suggestions such as a clear separation between the test code and the production code as well as an introduction of a structured process of symbols deprecation and removal. Keywords: Software, Heating, Visualization, Algorithm design and analysis, Stress, Image color analysis, Complexity theory

U2 - 10.1109/WCRE.2013.6671319

DO - 10.1109/WCRE.2013.6671319

M3 - Conference contribution

SN - 978-1-4799-2931-3

SP - 433

EP - 440

BT - 20th Working Conference on Reverse Engineering (WCRE'13, Koblenz, Germany, October 14-17, 2013)

A2 - Lämmel, R.

A2 - Langdon, W.B.

A2 - Weimer, W.

PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

CY - Piscataway

T2 - conference; 20th Working Conference on Reverse Engineering; 2013-10-14; 2013-10-17

Y2 - 14 October 2013 through 17 October 2013

ER -

Schoenmakers B, Broek, van den N, Nagy I, Vasilescu BN, Serebrenik A. Assessing the complexity of upgrading software modules. In Lämmel R, Langdon WB, Weimer W, editors, 20th Working Conference on Reverse Engineering (WCRE'13, Koblenz, Germany, October 14-17, 2013). Piscataway: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. 2013. p. 433-440 doi: 10.1109/WCRE.2013.6671319

Assessing the complexity of upgrading software modules

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