Reverse engineering for software maintenance

Maintenance of software systems is an un-glamorous and taxing process that is costly and error-prone. Unfortunately the process of maintenance can never be avoided, for software must operate in our everchanging world. We explore how reverse engineering can help the core activities involved in the process of maintaining software. Remould, a reverse engineering tool that supports the maintenance of C software is introduced. The mental processes involved in changing existing systems are understanding the existing system; understanding the change; locating where and how to make the change; and making the change. After the change has been made, it must be then tested and documented. The process of understanding is reckoned to account for 50% of the activity during maintenance. Tools that accelerate this phase will produce major productivity increases during maintenance.