Complex networks and link streams for the empirical analysis of large software

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Large software may be modeled as graphs in several ways. For instance, nodes may represent modules, objects or functions, and links may encode dependencies between them, calls, heritage, etc. One may then study a large software through such graphs, called complex networks because they have no strong mathematical properties. Studying them sheds much light on the structure of the considered software. If one turns to the analysis of the dynamics of large software, like execution traces, then the considered graphs evolve over time. This raises challenging issues, as there is currently no clear way to study such objects. We develop a new approach consisting in modeling traces as link streams, i.e. series of triplets (t,a,b) meaning that a and b interacted at time t. For instance, such a triplet may model a call between two modules at run time. Analyzing such streams directly turns out to be much easier and powerful than transforming them into dynamic graphs that poorly capture their dynamics. We present our work on this topic, with directions for applications in software analysis.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationApplication and Theory of Petri Nets and Concurrency - 35th International Conference, PETRI NETS 2014, Proceedings
PublisherSpringer Verlag
Pages40-50
Number of pages11
ISBN (Print)9783319077338
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2014
Event35th International Conference on Application and Theory of Petri Nets and Concurrency, PETRI NETS 2014 - Tunis, Tunisia
Duration: 23 Jun 201427 Jun 2014

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume8489 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference35th International Conference on Application and Theory of Petri Nets and Concurrency, PETRI NETS 2014
Country/TerritoryTunisia
CityTunis
Period23/06/1427/06/14

Keywords

  • complex networks
  • dynamic graphs
  • link streams
  • software traces

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