The codecompass comprehension framework
Zoltán Porkoláb, Tibor Brunner · 2018
CodeCompass is an open source LLVM/Clang based tool developed by Ericsson Ltd. and the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest to help understanding large legacy software systems. Based on the LLVM/Clang compiler infrastructure, CodeCompass gives exact information on complex C/C++ language elements like overloading, inheritance, the usage of variables and types, possible uses of function pointers and the virtual functions - features that various existing tools support only partially. Steensgaard's and Andersen's pointer analysis algorithm are used to compute and visualize the use of pointers/references. The wide range of interactive visualizations extends further than the usual class and function call diagrams; architectural, component and interface diagrams are a few of the implemented graphs. To make comprehension more extensive, CodeCompass is not restricted to the source code. It also utilizes build information to explore the system architecture as well as version control information e.g. git commit history and blame view. Clang based static analysis results are also integrated to CodeCompass. Although the tool focuses mainly on C and C++, it also supports Java and Python languages.