Code Maintenance System Identifying Unused Methods
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Solution Overview
Problem
Software development is hindered by cluttered code artifacts due to the presence of 'dead' code that is not executed at runtime, making maintenance and bug fixes more difficult and resource-intensive.
Innovation Solution
A system that identifies unused methods within source code by analyzing references and execution traces, allowing for their removal without breaking existing functionality, using a combination of manual, semi-automated, or fully-automated processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If developers retain all pre-existing code during revision, then existing functionality is preserved, but code artifact becomes cluttered and difficult to maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and identifies dead code portions that can be safely removed without affecting existing functionality. By analyzing code references and execution patterns, the system separates useful code from useless dead code, allowing developers to remove clutter while preserving functional integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides feedback to developers by automatically detecting and highlighting dead code portions. This feedback mechanism enables developers to make informed decisions about which code to remove, balancing functionality preservation with code artifact simplification.
2Device complexity
If developers manually identify and remove dead code, then code artifact is cleaned up, but developer time and resources are consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-service by automatically detecting and identifying dead code portions without requiring manual analysis from developers. The system independently analyzes code references, execution traces, and dependency graphs to pinpoint removable code, significantly reducing the time and resources developers would otherwise need to spend on this task.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional development environments are used, then code can be reviewed and deployed, but dead code cannot be identified and removed
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces manual mechanical code analysis with automated computational analysis. By using algorithms to trace code execution paths, analyze references, and detect dead code patterns, the system substitutes human manual inspection with automated mechanisms, enabling dead code identification without compromising code review and deployment capabilities.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods provide identification of a code artifact, determination of logical entities of the code artifact, determination of references between the logical entities of the code artifact, determination, based on the determined references, of one or more methods of the code artifact that are referenced by no logical entities of the code artifact, and identification of ones of the one or more methods which were not executed by a production system by searching a code execution trace for each of the one or more methods.