QJBrowser : sutitle a query based approach to explore concerns

• Main Author: Rajagopalan, Rajeswari
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/13437

This dissertation presents a query-based browsing tool called QJBrowser that can assist developers in working with crosscutting concerns. Although there is no apparent limit to the number of different kinds of crosscutting views of source code that are potentially interesting to developers, many existing browser tools are capable of producing only a limited set of pre-defined views. This is because the logic to locate and display code units is typically pre-programmed into these tools and users have only limited control over it. QJBrowser addresses this problem by providing a mechanism by which developers can dynamically define interesting views. The goals of QJBrowser are the following: • It must be configurable enough to define a multitude of different kinds of views on source code. • It must be simple enough so that a developer can define views on demand. • It must provide an interface that is familiar to software developers. • The query language that it provides must be extensible. • Finally, it must provide assistance for the exploration of crosscutting concerns in source code. Besides presenting the motivation and concepts of QJBrowser, this dissertation intends to provide evidence by using examples and observations from preliminary experience, that QJBrowser in fact meets these aforementioned goals.