Title :
Function-theoretic principles of program understanding
Author :
Pleszkoch, Mark G. ; Hausler, Philip A. ; Hevner, Alan R. ; Linger, Richard C.
Author_Institution :
IBM Corp., Baltimore, MD, USA
Abstract :
The authors propose a comprehensive methodology for automated program abstraction of computer programs. The theoretical foundations that support program abstraction are functional abstraction, data analysis, program slicing, and pattern matching. The theory of functional abstraction is applied to an example program. The localization of data scope is described as a step to facilitate the abstraction process. Techniques are presented for automatically abstracting the functions of both nonlooping and looping control structures
Keywords :
data structures; program processors; programming theory; software tools; automated program abstraction; data analysis; data scope; functional abstraction; looping control structures; nonlooping; pattern matching; program slicing; program understanding; Automation; Business; Data analysis; Debugging; Documentation; Educational institutions; Large-scale systems; Libraries; Software maintenance; Software performance;
Conference_Titel :
System Sciences, 1990., Proceedings of the Twenty-Third Annual Hawaii International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Kailua-Kona, HI
DOI :
10.1109/HICSS.1990.205177
