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Essay on Reverse Engineering
Reverse engineering is the process of analyzing a computer program to determine how it is programmed and the way that it functions (Microsoft Press Computer Dictionary (1991). The reverse engineering process is often challenging. Software is typically written in a high-level “source code” that humans can understand. But computers do not understand this high-level language, which must be converted, or compiled, into an “object code” language that the computer will understand. Because most software is distributed only in object code, the reverse engineering process often requires an initial decompilation of the nearly unintelligible object code into understandable source code.
Although the mere act of decompilation may be simple, the task of deciphering the resulting source code can be quite challenging. In the original source code, programmers typically include comments to assist in understanding the code. But the reverse engineer will normally not have the benefit of these important road maps because they are generally not compiled into object code and, therefore, will not be present in the decompiled code either. In addition, the reverse engineer probably has little or no idea which of the potentially millions of lines of code contain the relevant information. Consequently, reverse engineering may be enormously expensive.
espite the challenge and potential expense involved in reverse engineering, in many cases there is no reasonable alternative. For example, a company may desire to produce software that is compatible with another company’s hardware or software products. Without knowledge of certain details about the competitor’s hardware or software, development of a competing product may not be possible. (Lawrence D. Graham and Richard O. Zerbe, Jr, 1996).
Reverse engineering primarily supports new product development by disclosing the costs involved in making products which a company does not now manufacture. The same analyses can also provide important CI hints. For example, reverse engineering may show you that a competitor's products are very costly for it to make. In turn, this, coupled with other CI, may show you that your competitor's profit margin is lower than you had anticipated....
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