An algebraic notation for representing threads in object oriented software comprehension

In object oriented systems a thread represents a chain of method activations started by an input event and terminating when an output event is generated. Functional requirements can be implemented by a single thread or by a combination of more threads. Thread analysis can be used as a tool for understanding object oriented software behavior and to support maintenance tasks. The paper presents an algebraic notation, called MM-exp, for representing the threads, that expressively describes relevant details about thread composition. An approach to carry out comprehension processes based on the MM-exp notation is discussed, and a technique to support testing activities guided by the threads is also presented. The proposed approaches are experimented with a case study involving a small sized system implemented in C++ language. The experiment results show that the MM-exp analysis effectively supports program behavior understanding and that the proposed testing technique can be exploited to better test an object oriented system.