Anatol W. Kark

Recovering business rules from legacy source code for system modernization

By using several reverse engineering tools and techniques, it is possible to extract business rules from the legacy source code that are easy to understand by the non-IT experts. These business rules can be used at different stages of system modernization. System maintainers can use the rules to locate in the code parts affected by a change in a rule. Business analysts can use those rules as means to aide understanding of the system at a business level. The extracted rules can serve as source of documentation and possible input for configuring a new system. This paper presents a novel approach for extracting business rules from legacy source code and application of the results at different stages of system modernization.

Connecting Legacy Code, Business Rules and Documentation

By using several reverse engineering tools and techniques, it is possible to extract business rules from legacy source code that are easy to understand by the non-IT experts. To make this information usable to business analysts, it is necessary to connect the artifacts extracted to existing documents. In this paper, we present how we use source code analysis and keyphrase extraction techniques to connect legacy code, business rules and documentation.

Maintaining COTS-based systems: start with the design

The use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software in building software systems presents new challenges to maintenance personnel who are required to evolve and enhance these systems. Unlike custom-built systems where maintenance is performed at the source code level, maintainers of COTS-based systems deal with the system as a set of large-scale black boxes that are owned by third-parties. This paper outlines a strategy for building maintainable COTS-based systems. The strategy was developed by interviewing a number of organizations involved in the acquisition, development, and maintenance of such systems. Based on these interviews, the high-cost maintenance activities were identified, and design strategies developed for minimizing these costs. The approach is illustrated with an example from a Web-based application.

COTS acquisition: getting a good contract

Organizations that are acquiring a COTS based system must adapt many of their acquisition process activities that are traditionally used for acquiring non-COTS based systems. Much of this adaptation becomes quite difficult within government environments where the process is often constrained by government rules and regulations. This paper provides an experience report on COTS based acquisition for a government agency during the early stages of the process. The impact on requirements engineering and the steps for developing the Request For Proposal (RFP) and evaluating the proposals are outlined. The parties involved in the acquisition process are identified, and their relationship within a project governance structure are discussed. The final discussion provides some guidance as to how the early stages of the acquisition process should be adapted to minimize risk through the project.