Tackling the abstraction problem for reverse engineering in a system re-engineering approach

It is widely accepted that reverse engineering has three components: restructuring, comprehension and production of formal specification. In this paper, we advocate that the three components could be achieved in a systematic approach by successfully applying a series of sound rules. The key approach to comprehension and the production of formal specification is a notion of abstraction. Abstraction is often interpreted as the act of hiding irrelevant details. What constitute as relevant details is often left open to different interpretations. A unified approach for reverse engineering is described within which the notion of abstraction is classified and precisely defined. Abstraction rules are given and applied to various small examples.