Visualization of Inter-Module Dataflow through Global Variables for Source Code Review

Naoto ISHIDA  Takashi ISHIO  Yuta NAKAMURA  Shinji KAWAGUCHI  Tetsuya KANDA  Katsuro INOUE  

Publication
IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Information and Systems   Vol.E101-D   No.12   pp.3238-3241
Publication Date: 2018/12/01
Publicized: 2018/09/26
Online ISSN: 1745-1361
DOI: 10.1587/transinf.2018EDL8104
Type of Manuscript: LETTER
Category: Software System
Keyword: 
static analysis,  dataflow analysis,  software visualization,  code review,  independent verification and validation,  

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Summary: 
Defects in spacecraft software may result in loss of life and serious economic damage. To avoid such consequences, the software development process incorporates code review activity. A code review conducted by a third-party organization independently of a software development team can effectively identify defects in software. However, such review activity is difficult for third-party reviewers, because they need to understand the entire structure of the code within a limited time and without prior knowledge. In this study, we propose a tool to visualize inter-module dataflow for source code of spacecraft software systems. To evaluate the method, an autonomous rover control program was reviewed using this visualization. While the tool does not decreases the time required for a code review, the reviewers considered the visualization to be effective for reviewing code.