An approach to modeling and supporting the rework process in refactoring

Abstract

This paper presents the definition of a process for performing rework, and a tool that executes the process in order to support humans seeking help in being sure that they are carrying out rework completely and correctly. The process definition treats rework as the reinstantiation of previously-performed activities in new contexts, which requires the careful specification and management of the values of the artifacts that comprise key process execution history and contextual information. The rework tool exploits access to this information to provide human reworkers with guidance about the rework tasks to be done and with context and history information expected to be useful in guiding superior rework decisions. The paper presents a detailed example of the use of the process and tool in supporting a particular kind of rework, namely the refactoring of the design of an Object-Oriented program.