Inline Visualization of Concerns

Abstract

Code modularization provides benefits throughout the software life cycle; however, the presence of crosscutting concerns (CCCs) in software hinders its complete modularization. This paper describes IVCon, a tool with a novel approach for completely modularizing CCCs. IVCon enables users to create, examine, and modify their code in two different views: the woven view and the unwoven view. The woven view displays program code in colors that indicate which CCCs various code segments implement. The unwoven view displays code in two panels, one showing the core of the program and the other showing all the code implementing each concern in an isolated module. IVCon aims to provide an easy-to-use interface for conveniently creating, examining, and modifying code in, and translating between, the woven and unwoven views.