一句话：提出用 VR 沉浸式可视化探索遗留系统，以重获设计知识并降低软件考古门槛。
现代软件系统会逐渐成为技术过时、设计文档失真的遗留系统，工程师需要重获其设计知识并发现再工程机会。然而，理解陌生代码库仍很困难，软件考古因依赖专家知识、细致与毅力而门槛很高。本文提出范式转变：在虚拟现实中构建可沉浸探索的软件可视化，利用沉浸式隐喻、有效导航与定向、引导式探索，以及与实现代码保持链接等概念。目标是通过沉浸且具游戏性的遗留系统探索，降低进入门槛、促进长期参与、强化心智模型构建并改善知识保留，以应对未来遗留系统增多的问题。本文为愿景论文，摘要未报告实证结果。
Many of today's software systems will become the legacy systems of tomorrow, comprised of outdated technology and inaccurate design documents. Preparing for their eventual re-engineering requires engineers to regain lost design knowledge and discover re-engineering opportunities. While tools and visualizations exist, comprehending an unfamiliar code base remains challenging. Hence, software archaeology suffers from a considerable entry barrier as it requires expert knowledge, significant diligence, tenacity, and stamina. In this paper, we propose a paradigm shift in how legacy systems' design knowledge can be regained by presenting our vision for an immersive explorable software visualization in virtual reality (VR). We propose innovative concepts leveraging benefits of VR for a) immersion in an exoteric visualization metaphor, b) effective navigation and orientation, c) guiding exploration, and d) maintaining a link to the implementation. By enabling immersive and playful legacy system exploration, we strive for lowering the entry barrier, fostering long-term engagement, strengthening mental-model building, and improving knowledge retention in an effort to ease coping with the increased number of tomorrow's legacy systems.
@inproceedings{paperbot6323,
title = {Towards immersive software archaeology: regaining legacy systems’ design knowledge via interactive exploration in virtual reality},
author = {Adrian Hoff and Michael Nieke and Christoph Seidl},
booktitle = {FSE},
year = {2021},
doi = {10.1145/3468264.3473128}
}