Show HN: A tool to visualize and map dependency hell in legacy COBOL codebases(apps.microsoft.com)
apps.microsoft.com
Show HN: A tool to visualize and map dependency hell in legacy COBOL codebases
https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9n1b6m4fz1c8?hl=en-US&gl=US
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The Challenges We Solve:
Dependency Sprawl: A single program change often ripples through dozens of Copybooks, which themselves include others. Our tool performs a full static analysis of the codebase to generate an accurate, visual dependency graph of every program and copybook included.
Obscured Control Flow: PERFORM blocks and deeply nested IF statements make control flow difficult to trace manually. The tool generates a clear, interactive control flow graph (CFG) for any selected program. Clicking a node in the CFG jumps directly to that line in the source.
Variable Tracing: Debugging is painful when variable usage is scattered across a 5,000-line file. We map the entire lifecycle of any variable: definition, modification, and usage points, streamlining the debugging process.
The goal was to move tribal knowledge out of people's heads and onto the code itself. The tool supports adding annotations and notes directly onto the flow graph nodes, linking critical business context directly to the source of truth.
We focused on generating highly accurate, navigable visualizations that senior developers can use to quickly understand and safely refactor complex logic.
We'd appreciate any feedback from others who have wrestled with legacy systems.