The `Catch 22´ of reengineering

In the software reengineering discussion it is assumed that the system can be understood on the following four levels: the programming language level, the control structure level, the generic algorithm level, and the problem domain level. It is noted that it is now possible to build tools which understand systems on the first three levels. There have been considerable advances in system data analysis that will lead directly to identification of abstract data types and objects. It is suggested that future progress will critically depend on the ability to represent and reason about the problem domain. The reengineering systems of tomorrow will require knowledge not only of software engineering, but more important, of particular problem domains