Prioritized test-driven reverse engineering process: A case study

In this study we empirically investigate the adaptation of Test-Driven Development (TDD) practice into software Reverse Engineering (RE) process. We call this adaptation as Test-Driven Reverse Engineering (TDRE) process. We propose a two-layer prioritization process, which firstly prioritizes the already-implemented functionalities using the Cumulative Voting (CV) method and three prioritization criteria (importance, complexity and dependency), and secondly prioritizes test-cases for each prioritized functionality, using the same criteria. We conducted a case study in academia with students to empirically evaluate the usability and effectiveness of the prioritization process and the TDD adaptation into RE process. The results have shown that students with a good performance in testing had also good performance in designing UML class-diagrams. Moreover, the implementation of hierarchical test-cases for the already prioritized functionalities, improves code comprehension and redesigning in the RE process in terms of better total grades obtained.