Any tools that help to get the big picture

[Jenna Thomas]

Hello,

I am new to Enterprise java programming so, I thought of asking this group: Are there any good tools for reverse engineering?

Im trying to get the big picture (in terms of code flows) of a project that I just got in. THe project mostly involves maintenance now but I would like to understand the big picture of course.

What are the best tools to "reverse engineer" the code? My idea would be something like a tool (preferably open source) that can create sequence diagrams(even if the project involves MDBs) or atleast class diagrams.

I work in Eclipse so the ideal tool would be a plugin in eclipse. But Id like to hear from this group whats worked for them(a particular analysis process for eg?)

thank you!

[Campbell Ritchie]

I think that is too difficult a question for "beginning", so I shall move it.

[Wim Vanni]

I have used a few tools to reverse engineer code but know of none in Eclipse. Here's what I have used:

- Borland Together
- Enterprise Architect
- Visual Paradigm

Most of the times you'd go for Class Diagrams. I'm not sure if other models can be achieved with the reverse engineering in these tools.

Good luck!
Wim

[Vishwanath Krishnamurthi]

Hi Jenna,
Green UML is neat eclipse plugin. One other choice would be Architexa
Apart from reverse engineering to get class or sequence diagrams, also consider writing unit / functional tests. It helps to understand a project faster

Vishwa

[Jenna Thomas]

These seem like solid leads to look into. Thank you for replying!