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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: GR/S75857/01
Title: Detecting Design Flaws in Code
Principal Investigator: Roper, Dr RMF
Other Investigators:
Wood, Dr M. I.
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department: Computer and Information Sciences
Organisation: University of Strathclyde
Scheme: Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts: 01 October 2004 Ends: 31 December 2007 Value (£): 142,925
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Software Engineering
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Information Technologies
Related Grants:
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
Refactoring is a technique for improving the design of existing code by applying a number of defined code-level transformations ( refactorings ) to address identified software design flaws. Refactoring has a significant role to play in software development by increasing the flexibility of an existing design to accommodate the next stage of design or a maintenance change. A key challenge in the refactoring process is the identification of the points at which these refactorings may be applied - the design flaws. Some are relatively easy to spot but the majority are concerned with subtle relationships between attributes of the code and are not easily identified. While human experience and intuition undoubtedly play a significant role in identifying these design flaws, searching for a large range of potential problems in a sizeable system is a daunting task that cries out for some form of automated support. The aim of this project is to investigate, evaluate and develop techniques for automatically detecting design flaws. The outcome will be a suite of tools and techniques that may be applied to any system to highlight candidate areas for refactoring. The focus will be on the identification of potential problems for subsequent consideration by an individual. The benefit of this is to significantly reduce the volume of code that has to be considered and bring only the difficult judgement decisions to the attention of the software engineer.
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Further Information:  
Organisation Website: http://www.strath.ac.uk