Detecting Design Patterns Using Source Code of Before Applying Design Patterns

Detecting design patterns from object-oriented program source-code can help maintainers understand the design of the program. However, the detection precision of conventional approaches based on the structural aspects of patterns is low due to the fact that there are several patterns with the same structure. To solve this problem, we propose an approach of design pattern detection using source-code of before the application of the design pattern.Our approach is able to distinguish different design patterns with similar structures, and help maintainers understand the design of the program more accurately. Moreover, our technique reveals when and where the target pattern has been applied in an ordered series of revisions of the target program. Our technique is useful to assess what kinds of patterns increase what kinds of quality characteristics such as the maintainability.