A quantitative framework for software restructuring

Byung‐Kyoo Kang, James M. Bieman
1999 Journal of Software Maintenance: Research and Practice  
Many existing software systems can bene t from restructuring to reduce maintenance cost and improve reusability. Yet, intuition-based, ad hoc restructuring can bedi cult and expensive, and can even make software structure worse. We introduce a quantitative framework for software restructuring. In the framework, restructuring decisions are guided by visualized design information and objective criteria. The design information can be extracted directly from code to restructure existing or legacy
more » ... ftware. Criteria for comparing alternative design structures include measures of design-level cohesion and coupling. Restructuring is accomplished through a series of decomposition and composition operations which increase the cohesion and or decrease the coupling of individual system components. An example and a case study demonstrate the framework. The framework insures that restructuring results in measurable improvements in design quality.
doi:10.1002/(sici)1096-908x(199907/08)11:4<245::aid-smr193>3.3.co;2-# fatcat:zwxy3ryy3zapzpziyrdv7i3joy