modernizer

A bachelor thesis project to enhance legacy software modernization via LLMs

Prerequisites:

• git client
• Visual Studio Code

Installation:

Option 1: Command Line

 code --install-extension IlijaKovacevic.modernizer-vscode

Option 2: Visual Studio Code

1. Open Extensions sidebar panel in Visual Studio Code. View → Extensions
2. Search for modernizer
3. Click Install to install it

Option 3: Packaged VSIX Extension

1. Download the latest release from the GitHub releases page
2. Install it from the command line with:

code --install-extension modernizer-2.0.0.vsix

Option 4: Compile from Source

1. Clone the repository: git clone https://github.com/rwth-acis/modernizer.git
2. Open the subfolder extension in Visual Studio Code
3. Run npm install to install the dependencies
4. Press F5 to start a new window with the extension loaded

Usage:

In order to showcase the functionalities a repository is prepared with a few examples. The repository can be found here.

• Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/ili16/example-functions.git

• Change to the repository directory:

cd example-functions

• Open the repository in Visual Studio Code with all extensions disabled except for the modernizer extension:
  • Windows:

& code . ($(& code --list-extensions | Where-Object { $_ -ne 'ilijakovacevic.modernizer-vscode' } | ForEach-Object { "--disable-extension" ; $_ }) )

• Linux:

code . $(code --list-extensions | grep -v 'ilijakovacevic.modernizer-vscode' | sed 's/^/--disable-extension /' | tr '\n' ' ')

Features:

The extension provides CodeLenses in the active editor window:

• Generate Prompt for ... - Generates a prompt with a random instruct for the selected function
• Prompt Count - Shows the number of prompts for functions with the same name
• Retrieve best response - Retrieves the best response for the selected prompt

Generated or retrieved prompts are displayed in the output window with a notification to either up- or downvote that response:

When retrieving responses additional CodeLenses are provided:

• Open GitHub Repository - Opens the file and lines of code which were used to generate the prompt
• Show next Response - Shows the next response for the initially selected code

One can also use the context menu to access the functionalities:

Uninstall

The backend won't be available for future use so you can uninstall the extension by following the steps below:

Option 1: Command Line

 code --uninstall-extension IlijaKovacevic.modernizer-vscode

Option 2: Visual Studio Code

1. Open Extensions sidebar panel in Visual Studio Code. View → Extensions
2. Search for modernizer
3. Click Uninstall to uninstall it