Simplifying the Structural Complexity of Software Systems

Abstract Simplification of execution traces is peculiarly important in the case of software comprehension. The objective is to make execution traces in ways that are more tractable and less difficult. However, the simplification process is a difficult task, particularly, in object-oriented contexts. Due to coupling, execution traces of object-oriented systems involve the Spaghetti Architectures phenomenon, which is a very complicated structure of dependencies. Therefore, the simplification process needs a well-established approach to be helpful for software comprehension. Otherwise, the simplified execution traces will be informative as their structures will involve several gaps that lead to a misunderstanding process. This research uses decoupling to guide the simplification of object-oriented execution traces. Specifically, decoupling truthfully can decrease the complexity of execution traces without eliminating the trace components and making numerous gaps in the trace structure. Then, decoupling can solve the problem of the Spaghetti Architectures phenomenon. A controlled experiment was conducted to empirically validate the usefulness and effectivity of the suggested work. There was a significant statistical added value demonstrated in the time required and the accurate solutions of the tasks being solved. More precisely, 25% less time required with a 62% more correct solutions were achieved solving the experiment’s comprehension tasks.