A new approach to software exploration: back-packing with GSEE

Maintaining software is very difficult, not only because of the number of software artifacts, but also due to the large variety of artifacts. Software includes programs as well as makefiles, architectural information, change logs, etc. Different software exploration tools have been proposed in the last decade. Unfortunately, these tools are either specific (e.g. a class browser), or customizable (e.g. Rigi or PBS) but require significant preparation before exploration. This paper presents a new approach to software exploration: software back-packing. This approach allows a simultaneous exploration of software entities and meta-information. Our experience with this approach is briefly presented through G^SEE, a generic software exploration environment