JStereoCode: automatically identifying method and class stereotypes in Java code

Object-Oriented (OO) code stereotypes are low-level patterns that reveal the design intent of a source code artifact, such as, a method or a class. They are orthogonal to the problem domain of the software and they reflect the role of a method or class from the OO problem solving point of view. However, the research community in automated reverse engineering has focused more on higher-level design information, such as design patterns. Existing work on reverse engineering code stereotypes is scarce and focused on C++ code, while no tools are freely available as of today. We present JStereoCode, a tool that automatically identifies the stereotypes of methods and classes in Java systems. The tool is integrated with Eclipse and for a given Java project will classify each method and class in the system based on their stereotypes. Applications of JStereoCode include: program comprehension, defect prediction, etc.