In this article, I will explain you the difference between Reverse and Re-Engineering in very simple terms. But before diving deep into these terms, let’s understand a very basic definition of Software Engineering
What is Software Engineering?
It is a branch of Computer Science which deals with the design, development, testing, deployment and maintenance of a software application. Software engineering enables to build real world software solutions for the end users or customers.
After having a brief understanding of Software Engineering, let’s understand Re-Engineering first.
Re — Engineering
- It is a process to re design a product or a particular component
- It is also called as software refactoring
- It is like a modification of the existing product to improve its performance, maintainability and adaptability
- It is a cost effective method as a part of the software is altered instead of the entire product
- Less coding knowledge is required for re-engineering
- This practice is generally followed for safety issues or to update a new feature into the product’s existing functionality
- Re-engineering takes less time in comparison to Reverse Engineering
Why is Re-Engineering required
- To adapt to changing business needs: As business requirements changes, it is important to re-structure the software to support new technology
- To improve quality of software: Re engineering can help identify and rectify errors and defects, thus making the software robust and reliable
- To modernize the software: As technology is dynamic and is constantly changing, it is important to keep the software updated which can be achieved via the process of re-engineering
Reverse Engineering
- It is a process of deconstructing a product to see how it actually works
- It is also known as backward engineering
- In this, the product is broken down to see its functionality and is then recreated to bring something new out of it
- It is an expensive method as the entire product is rebuilt
- It requires prior coding knowledge regarding the software followed by knowledge of system components and their relationship
- This practice is generally followed by companies to evaluate their competitor’s latest inventions and get something better out of it
- This process comparatively takes more time as the product is created from scratch
Why is Reverse Engineering required
- To find how a system works: Reverse engineering helps in an in-depth analysis of the entire product and can be used to learn how things work
- As a learning tool: It is a way to make new and compatible products that might be cheaper than what’s currently in the market
- To uncover features: Reverse engineering helps to unveil some undocumented features of commercial products that might be incorporated while building the entire product from start