An Evolution Analysis of Software System Based on Multi-granularity Software Network

Software as a man-made system is a typical complex system, understanding its evolution contributes to better software engineering practice.In this paper, we construct software network model from a multi-granularity perspective, namely the level of package, class and feature respectively.Then we analyze the evolutions of three open-source software systems in terms of network scale, quality and structure control indicators, using complex network theory.Finally, taking Lehman's evolution laws as the benchmarks, we compare the evolution of software networks based on multi-granularity.The results show that: (1) the evolution characteristics are varied under different granularity levels, and software network built in the level of class supports the most Lehman laws; (2) the laws of continuing growth, increasing complexity, self-regulation and conservation of familiarity are independent of the levels of granularity; (3) the impact of software evolution in the level of package on software quality is trivial, but feedback system is only supported in the case of class level. © 2018, Chinese Institute of Electronics. All right reserved.