PSO with Reverse Edge for Multi-Objective Software Module Clustering

摘要

The multi-objective software module clustering problem (MOSMCP) divides the complex software system into subsystems to obtain a perfect structure, which is based on the relations between modules to meet the conflicting software refactor objectives as much as possible. The modularization quality (MQ) and reverse edges number between clusters are considered as evaluation objectives, and a novel particle swarm optimization (PSO) with reverse edge, called REPSO, is proposed. First, the module dependency graph (MDG) in software system under clustering is constructed, and then the multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) is improved to cluster the MDG. The exploring approach is used to update the particle locations. Four typical open source projects for module clustering are selected to verify the effectiveness of the REPSO. The laboratorial results prove that the REPSO algorithm is very effective and stable, and the diversity of the optimal solution is good. The REPSO algorithm provides an efficient engineering method for MOSMCP, which enhances the software structure and maintainability.