Exchange Of Software Representations Among Reverse Engineering Tools

This paper examines the exchange of software representations among reverse engineering tools. Background information on maintenance related activities and their importance in the software development lifecycle are outlined. An overview of tool support for software maintenance demonstrates the need for a standardized means for facilitating the exchange of information among reverse engineering tools. A variety of techniques for exchanging software representations are examined with respect to their relative advantages and disadvantages. The characteristics of a number of software exchange formats are summarized among various taxonomies. Four different types of exchange are characterized. Each is evaluated on how it satisfies the requirements for a standard exchange format. The paper concludes with a look at the direction research efforts are taking towards enabling the exchange of software representations among reverse engineering tools in the near future.