Feature oriented refactoring of legacy applications

ABSTRACT

Feature oriented refactoring (FOR) is the process of decomposinga program into features, where a feature is an increment in programfunctionality. We develop a theory of FOR that relates code refac-toring to algebraic factoring. Our theory explains relationshipsbetween features and their implementing modules, and why fea-tures in different programs of a product-line can have differentimplementations. We describe a tool and refactoring methodologybased on our theory, and present a validating case study.

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INDEX TERMS

Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.1 Requirements/Specifications
          Subjects: Tools
        D.2.11 Software Architectures
            Subjects: Data abstraction

General Terms:
Design, Languages

Keywords:
feature interactions, features, product lines, program algebra, program synthesis, refactoring