Design Pattern Detection using inexact graph matching

Design Patterns are proven solution to common recurring design problems. Design Pattern Detection is most important activity that may support a lot to re-engineering process and thus gives significant information to the designer. Knowledge of design pattern exists in the system design improves the program understanding and software maintenance. Therefore, an automatic and reliable design pattern discovery is required. Graph theoretic approaches have been used for design pattern detection in past. Here we are applying an algorithm which decomposes the graph matching process into K phases, where the value of K ranges from 1 to the minimum of the numbers of nodes in the two graphs to be matched. The effectiveness of this algorithm results from the use of small values of K, and significantly reduces the search and space and producing very good matching between graphs. The same algorithm we are here using for design pattern detection from the system design.