Improving the structure of KDM instances via refactorings: An experimental study using KDM-RE

Author(s)

Durelli, Rafael S. ; Viana, Matheus C. ; Landi, Andre de S. ; Durelli, Vinicius H. S. ; Delamaro, Marcio E. ; de Camargo, Valter V. ; ACM

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: XXXI BRAZILIAN SYMPOSIUM ON SOFTWARE ENGINEERING (SBES 2017); v. N/A, p. 10-pg., 2017-01-01.

Abstract

Architecture-Driven Modernization (ADM) is an initiative of the Object Management Group (OMG) whose main purpose is to provide standard metamodels for software modernization activities. The most important metamodel is the Knowledge Discovery Metamodel (KDM), which represents software artifacts in a language-agnostic fashion. A fundamental step in software modernization is refactoring. However, there is a lack of tools that address how refactoring can be applied in conjunction with ADM. We developed a tool, called KDM-RE, that supports refactorings in KDM instances through: (i) a set of wizards that aid the software modernization engineer during refactoring activities; (ii) a change propagation module that keeps the internal metamodels synchronized; and (iii) the selection and application of refactorings available in its repository. This paper evaluates the application of refactorings to KDM instances in an experiment involving seven systems implemented in Java. We compared the pre-refactoring versions of these systems with the refactored ones using the Quality Model for Object-Oriented Design (QMOOD) metric set. The results from this evaluation suggest that KDM-RE provides advantages to software modernization engineers refactoring systems represented as KDMs. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 16/03104-0 - An Approach Supported by Tests for Architectural Modernisation of Adaptive Systems
• Grantee: Valter Vieira de Camargo
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants