Combining Kieker with Gephi for Performance Analysis and Interactive Trace Visualization

Performing an analysis of established software usually is challenging. Based on reverse engineering through dynamic analysis, it is possible to perform a software performance analysis, in order to detect performance bottlenecks or issues. This process is often divided into two consecutive tasks. The first task concerns monitoring the software, and the second task covers analysing and visualizing the results. In this paper, we report on our performance analysis of the Perl-based open repository software EPrints, which has now been continuously developed for more than fifteen years. We analyse and evaluate the software using Kieker, and employ the visualization tool Gephi for performance analysis and interactive trace visualization. This allows us, in collaboration with the EPrints development team, to reverse engineer their software EPrints, to give new and unexpected insights, and to detect potential bottlenecks.