EvolTrack: improving design evolution awareness in software development

• Published in: Journal of the Brazilian Computer Society Vol. 16; no. 2; pp. 117 - 131
• Main Authors: de Cepêda, Rafael da Silva Viterbo, Magdaleno, Andréa Magalhães, Murta, Leonardo Gresta Paulino, Werner, Cláudia Maria Lima
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Springer London 01-08-2010; Sociedade Brasileira de Computação
• Subjects: Computer Science; Computer System Implementation; Data Structures; Operating Systems; Original Paper; Simulation and Modeling; Design evolution; Software evolution; Software visualization
• ISSN: 0104-6500; 1678-4804
• DOI: 10.1007/s13173-010-0011-5

Software differs from most manufactured products because it is intangible. This characteristic makes it difficult to detect, control, and understand how it evolves. This paper presents an approach based on software visualization that can detect and externalize design evolution made in a software project during its initial development or at any further phase. By using this approach, a developer can be aware of the current state of the software as a whole and can additionally verify if the current design, also called emerging design, is evolving according to the team expectations and leader guidance, preventing problems caused by misunderstandings of the expected software solution. The approach was evaluated with free/open source software (FOSS) projects. The results indicate that the approach behaves as expected when applied to real software development projects, with minor performance bottlenecks.