[Keynotes]

Abstract

Summary form only given. Program understanding is one of the core activities in software engineering, and one of the main challenges in getting a grip on large industrial systems is finding appropriate representations that support the comprehension process. In this talk, we will investigate the benefits and challenges of using a map metaphor to help software engineers explore and understand software systems. We will analyze what factors influence the legibitility of a software map, i.e. what makes the information contained in a map easy to understand, interpret and remember. In addition, we will look at what has been done in city planning and architecture to make it easier for people find their way in unknown terrain, and reflect on opportunities for using these results in program comprehension research. Leon Moonen is a research scientist at Simula Research Laboratory in Norway. His research is aimed at developing better techniques and tools for the exploration, assessment and evolution of large industrial software systems. His research interests include program comprehension, reverse engineering, program analysis, software visualisation and empirical software engineering. Current topics include the reconstruction and visualization of higher level abstractions (models) from the development artifacts of existing software systems, and the use of these models in software inspection, verification and validation. He is co-founder of the Software Improvement Group, a company that specializes in the use of source code analysis to help organizations get control over their software systems.