MFV-Class： a multi-faceted visualization tool of object classes  

作　　者：张志猛 潘云鹤 庄越挺 

机构地区：[1]InstituteofArtificialIntelligence,CollegeofComputerScience,ZhejiangUniversity,Hangzhou310027,China

出　　处：《Journal of Zhejiang University Science》2004年第11期1374-1381,共8页浙江大学学报（自然科学英文版）

基　　金：Project supported by the National Basic Research Program (973)of China (No. 2002CB312101);; the National Natural ScienceFoundation of China (No. 60272031);; Doctorate Research Foun-dation of the State Education Commission of China (No.20010335049);; Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation ofChina (No. ZD0212)

摘　　要：Classes are key software components in an object-oriented software system. In many industrial OO software systems, there are some classes that have complicated structure and relationships. So in the processes of software maintenance, testing, software reengineering, software reuse and software restructure, it is a challenge for software engineers to understand these classes thoroughly. This paper proposes a class comprehension model based on constructivist learning theory, and implements a software visualization tool (MFV-Class) to help in the comprehension of a class. The tool provides multiple views of class to uncover manifold facets of class contents. It enables visualizing three object-oriented metrics of classes to help users focus on the understanding process. A case study was conducted to evaluate our approach and the toolkit.Classes are key software components in an object-oriented software system. In many industrial OO software systems, there are some classes that have complicated structure and relationships. So in the processes of software mainte- nance, testing, software reengineering, software reuse and software restructure, it is a challenge for software engineers to understand these classes thoroughly. This paper proposes a class comprehension model based on constructivist learning theory, and implements a software visualization tool (MFV-Class) to help in the comprehension of a class. The tool provides multiple views of class to uncover manifold facets of class contents. It enables visualizing three object-oriented metrics of classes to help users focus on the understanding process. A case study was conducted to evaluate our approach and the toolkit.

关 键 词：Program comprehension Reverse engineering Software visualization Object-oriented software metrics Program analysis 

分 类 号：TP311.5[自动化与计算机技术—计算机软件与理论]