Program understanding: Challenge for the 1990s

T. A. Corbi
1989 IBM Systems Journal  
search Division, work began in late 1986 on tools which could help programmers in two key areas: static analysis (reading the code) and dynamic analysis (running the code). The work is reported in the companion papers by Cleveland and by Pazel in this issue. The history and background which motivated and which led to the start of this research on tools to assist programmers in understanding existing program code is reported here. "If th e poor workman hates his tools, the good workman hates
more » ... tools. The work of the workingman is, in a sense, defined by his toolwitness the way in which the tool is so often taken to symbolize the worker: the tri-square for the carpenter, the trowel for the mason, the transit for the surveyor, the camera for the photographer, the hammer for the laborer, and the sickle for the farmer. Remove defects Address new requirements Improve design and/or performance Interface to new programs Adjust to changes in data structures or formats Exploit new hardware and software features As we extended the lifetimes of our systems by continuing to modify and enhance them, we also Copyright 1989 by International Business Machines Corporation. Copying in printed form for private use is permitted without payment of royalty provided that ( I ) each reproduction is done without alteration and (2) the Journal reference and IBM copyright notice are included on the first page. The title and abstract, but no other portions, of this paper may be copied or distributed royalty free without further permission by computer-based and other information-service systems. Permission to republish any other portion of this paper must be obtained from the Editor.
doi:10.1147/sj.282.0294 fatcat:dyasbkozifaktlgobd5s24dhay