Automatic Dependency Tracking in Microservice-based Systems Using Static Analysis in Helm Charts

In this paper, we aim to show the power of static analysis when it comes to understanding the relationships between microservice components of a software. We have developed an algorithm that models the conventional rules in Helm that describe the dependencies between microservices to discover the architectural design of microservice-based systems. We implemented the algorithm as a new plugin in CodeCompass (open source code comprehension tool: https://github.com/Ericsson/CodeCompass) that parses YAML files, automatically identifies microservices and dependencies between them, and graphically visualizes the microservice architecture of the software. We present the challenges and strength of the static analysis approach and we demonstrate how the solution helps software architects via an example.