An Interactive Change Impact Analysis Based on an Architectural Reflexion Model Approach

Abstract

To establish the software architecture based on the source code and analyze the impact of its change, we provide an architectural reflexion model that is a simplified version of the reflexion model and an interactive change impact analysis tool. The architectural reflexion model is performed in order to reconstruct the software architecture of a software system based on the static analysis information extracted from its source code. When the architecture of the software system is refined and established, its internal elements affected by the changes can be visualized by the interactive impact analysis tool we implement. The main objective of our approach is to support maintenance of rapidly changing and evolving software systems, usually developed in high-technology companies by means of providing an agile and practical way to reconstruct the software architecture of a large-scale software system and let the user take a snapshot of its internal dependencies on a basis of changes. A case study using an open source project of the large-scale embedded software platform for mobile phone products illustrates how our approach applied and presents its usefulness and effectiveness.