TripLogic: a demand-response dispatching system (Master of Software Engineering)

Abstract

It is common in practice that many companies build complex and highly delicate business processes around their legacy (existing software) systems making it extremely difficult and costly to switch software systems or to change their business processes. Software re-engineering is an approach that takes legacy software that has become expensive to maintain or whose implementation is obsolete, and reconstructs it with current software technologies. The software re-engineering approach is important for recovering and reusing existing software assets, putting high software maintenance costs under control, and establishing a base for future software development. Top Hat, Inc. started developing its demand-response transportation software in 1994. Today, it is a vital part of their business. Unfortunately, it has become increasingly expensive to enhance its features and compete against their competitors. The design structure, code organization, and development platform of the legacy system make it difficult to debug, modify, and distribute to the end-user community. This report discusses the techniques and methodologies used to re-engineer Top Hat's demand-response transportation software. It also describes the benefits, challenges, and issues encountered while introducing good software development techniques, maintaining required functionality, and applying new technologies to the Top Hat's demand-response transportation software.