DenkzeitWiki

Software Archeology

• http://www.visibleworkings.com/archeology/ --Software Archeology: Understanding Large Systems
  • http://www.visibleworkings.com/archeology/position-papers.html

We are then left to understand, debug, or extend these programs on our own. The two techniques I have found useful have been active debugging and refactoring.[1]

My current procedure for software archeology is to refactor the code. Source code is a form of communication, one of the most powerful techniques for understanding someone's communication, is to put the ideas into your own words and speak them back.[2]

• http://www.pragmaticprogrammer.com/articles/mar_02_archeology.pdf --Software Archaeology -by AndyHunt and DaveThomas?
  
  
• http://www.integratio.de/i_swmanufaktur_archaeologie.php
  
  
• http://lambda-the-ultimate.org/node/view/131 --GradyBooch on SoftwareArcheology
  • http://www.booch.com/architecture/blog/artifacts/Software%20Archeology.ppt --Presentation

Old code never dies - you have to kill it.

The recovery of essential details about an existing system sufficient to reason about, fix, adapt, modify, harvest, and use that system itself or its parts.

• http://www.computerhistory.org/ --Computer History Museum
  
  
• http://www.otal.umd.edu/~mgk/blog/archives/000122.html
  • http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/07/30/software_archaeology/index_np.html --Prowling the ruins of ancient software
• http://www.builderau.com.au/program/0,39024614,39131500,00.htm --Digging code: Software archaeology

• http://www.decafbad.com/blog/2005/02/24/ancient_software_and_programmerarchaeologists --Ancient software and programmer-archaeologists

• Electronic Archaeology

images

• (--http://www.gungfu.de/facts/wiki/uploads/Main/softwareArcheology.png--)
  • Attach:softwareArcheology.svgz taken from [3]