Extracting Mode Diagrams from Blech Code

Abstract

Software visualization tools can improve the software development process by providing a graphical overview of source code and enhancing collaboration. We here propose a concept to automatically extract mode diagrams from Blech code, an imperative synchronous programming language for embedded, reactive and safety-critical systems. Our main findings are that the visualization is helpful to understand the stateful nature of the source code and that it can enhance the collaboration between developers. It is also found, however, that a good understanding of the precise diagram semantics meaning of the diagram elements is key. Lastly, the findings indicate that preference on different labeling options is highly subjective.