Search-based improvement of subsystem decompositions

The subsystem decomposition of a software system degrades gradually during its lifetime and therefore it gets harder and harder to maintain. As a result this decomposition needs to be reconditioned from time to time. The problem is to determine a suitable subsystem decomposition that can be used as a basis for future maintenance tasks. This paper describes a new methodology that computes such a subsystem decomposition by optimizing metrics and heuristics of good subsystem design. The main idea is to treat this task as a search problem and to solve it using a genetic algorithm. Categories and Subject Descriptors D.2.7 [Software Engineering]: Distribution, Maintenance, and Enhancement—Restructuring, reverse engineering, and reengineering General Terms Design Keywords Software clustering, Remodularization, Genetic Algorithms, Software Metrics, Design Heuristics

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: GECCO
• Authors: Olaf Seng, Markus Bauer, Matthias Biehl, Gert Pache
• Keywords: GECCO 2005, Genetic Algorithms, Subsystem Decomposition, Suitable Subsystem Decomposition