The impacts of function extraction technology on program comprehension: A controlled experiment

Abstract

Program comprehension is a critical, time-consuming, and highly error-prone task for software developers. Function extraction (FX) is a theory and technology that automates and supports program comprehension by calculating the semantic behaviors of programs at many levels of abstraction and displaying those behaviors in a standard, readable format in terms of the “as-built” specification of the program. In this experimental study, developers using an FX prototype tool to assist them in determining the behavior of software modules have significantly more effective program comprehension, in both increased accuracy of understanding and reduced time on task. Moreover, developers have a positive reaction toward the use of the FX technology, and use of FX does not reduce their overall comprehension of the program.