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G. A. Di Lucca, A. R. Fasolino, and P. Tramontana,
Towards a Better Comprehensibility of Web Applications: Lessons
Learned from Reverse Engineering Experiments
Abstract
The rapid diffusion of Internet has triggered a growing request for new Web
sites and Web Applications (WA).
Due to the pressing market demand, new WAs are usually developed in very
short time, while existing WAs are modified frequently and quickly. In these
conditions, the well-known software engineering principles are not usually
applied, as well as well-defined software processes and methodologies are
rarely adopted. As a consequence, WAs usually present disordered
architectures, poor or non-existing documentation, and can be analyzed,
comprehended and modified with a considerable effort.
Reverse engineering methods and tools are being proposed in order to reduce
the effort required to comprehend existing WAs and to support their
maintenance and evolution. In this paper, the experimentation of a reverse
engineering approach is described. Experimentation was carried out with the
aim of assessing which characteristics of a WA mostly affect
comprehensibility. The results of the experiments highlighted a set of
techniques and best practices that should be applied for producing best
analyzable and maintainable WAs. These best practices are illustrated in the
paper.
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