Title :
Semantic navigation of large code bases in higher-order, dynamically typed languages
Author :
Spoon, S. Alexander ; Shivers, Olin
Author_Institution :
Coll. of Comput., Georgia Inst. of Technol., Atlanta, GA, USA
Abstract :
Chuck is a new code browser that allows navigation of a code base along semantic structures, such as data-flow and higher-order control-flow relationships. Employing the fast DDP type inferencer, it is effective on dynamically typed code bases an order of magnitude larger than the code bases supported by previous browsers. Chuck supports the full Smalltalk language, and is now shipped as a standard component of the Squeak open-source Smalltalk system, where it routinely works with code bases exceeding 300,000 lines of code. Chuck´s implementation is tuned for interactive use, and is transparently integrated with the Squeak system´s existing code-browsing tools. Thus, it provides semantic navigation of a live code base that is still being edited without requiring long pauses for reanalysis due to edits of the code.
Keywords :
codes; program diagnostics; program verification; programming language semantics; software tools; Chuck code browser; Smalltalk language; Smalltalk system; Squeak open source; Squeak system; code-browsing tool; control-flow relationship; data flow; dynamically typed code base; dynamically typed language; live code base; semantic navigation; semantic structure; Code standards; Computer languages; Dynamic programming; Ecosystems; Educational institutions; Navigation; Open source software; Pain; Programming profession; Reverse engineering;
Conference_Titel :
Reverse Engineering, 12th Working Conference on
Print_ISBN :
0-7695-2474-5
DOI :
10.1109/WCRE.2005.29