Legacy-to-Container Re-Architecture Tool for Code Modernization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current enterprise IT migration software converts legacy applications line-by-line without considering the context, resulting in procedural code that is difficult to maintain and affects performance, and lacks screen enrichment facilities, making it inefficient and costly.
Innovation Solution
A legacy to container (L2C) computer-based re-architecture tool that uses automated wizard-based facilities to migrate legacy languages and databases into microservices-based object-oriented languages like Java or .NET, employing an incremental automated re-architect approach that remodels components and provides a user interface for selection and conversion, ensuring object-oriented code and significant cost savings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If typical migration software converts application components line-by-line procedurally, then the conversion process is simple and straightforward, but the resulting code is difficult to maintain and performance is affected due to dead code migration
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the monolithic legacy application into modular components using wizard-based facilities that identify and extract functional units. The system divides the conversion process into discrete steps (parsing, identification, conversion, validation) that can be applied to individual code segments independently, transforming procedural code into object-oriented components with clear boundaries and responsibilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intelligent intermediary layer (the migration system with wizards) that sits between the source legacy code and the target object-oriented code. This intermediary analyzes the legacy code context, identifies dead code, and performs intelligent conversion rather than direct line-by-line translation, thereby improving maintainability while avoiding the pitfalls of simple procedural conversion.
2Productivity
If typical migration software performs automated line-by-line conversion, then productivity is improved through automation, but the conversion lacks contextual understanding and produces procedural code instead of object-oriented code
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic conversion approach where the system adapts its conversion strategy based on the analyzed code context. Rather than applying static line-by-line rules, the wizards dynamically determine the appropriate object-oriented transformation for each code segment, allowing the system to maintain high productivity while achieving genuine code modernization and contextual understanding.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates feedback mechanisms where the migration system analyzes the legacy code, performs conversion, and validates the results. The system uses this feedback to refine its conversion approach, ensuring that automated productivity gains do not compromise the quality of object-oriented code generation. The feedback loop enables continuous improvement of the conversion process while maintaining automation benefits.
3Loss of time
If the entire legacy application is converted at once, then the migration is completed in a single process, but the complexity of managing the conversion and potential errors increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the overall migration process into discrete wizard-based steps that can be executed incrementally. Each wizard handles a specific aspect of the conversion (parsing, identification, conversion, validation), allowing the migration to be managed in manageable chunks rather than as a single complex operation, thereby reducing management complexity while still achieving complete migration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary analysis and planning actions through the wizard facilities before the actual conversion begins. The system pre-identifies code segments, plans the conversion strategy, and prepares the transformation roadmap, which simplifies the subsequent conversion process and reduces the complexity of managing the overall migration while maintaining efficient timing.
Data Source
AI summary
A legacy-to-container (L2C) system converts a computer program in a procedural programming language to an object oriented programming language. The L2C system parses the procedural language to identify program variables and also program sub-elements, such as paragraphs in COBOL for example. The L2C system provides a user interface that allows the user to select which paragraphs should be converted into methods wherein the remaining non-selected paragraphs are to be converted into classes. The L2C system is configured to re-architect the procedural language by (i) creating normal object classes corresponding to the identified variables, (ii) creating methods for the user-selected paragraphs; and (iii) creating classes for the remaining non-selected paragraphs. The L2C further includes various wizards to further facilitate the re-architecting, such as a UI enrichment wizard, a code elimination wizard, and a database optimizer wizard, as well as a code de-duplication wizard, a microservices wizard, and a parallel processing wizard.