SDLC Assistant: AI-Powered Legacy Code Navigation
Discover how DIAL's multi-agent SDLC solution can help transform obscure legacy codebases into accessible knowledge through specialized RAG-based assistants that integrate directly into developers' existing workflows and tools.
80%
Reduction in documentation time1.4x
Overall increase in productivity2.5x
Faster developers onboarding~$2M
ROI over 5 yearsChallenge
Altera's software development teams struggled with unfamiliar legacy codebases, especially from acquisitions, with minimal documentation and expertise.
Developers spent a lot of time reverse-engineering functionality and architecture before they could implement improvements, creating bottlenecks that slow innovation across multiple applications.
Industry
Software developmentDev team size
4 developersDuration
3 monthsSolution
DIALX implemented an AI-powered multi-agent SDLC solution using retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) technology to transform legacy codebases into accessible knowledge resources.
The implementation creates searchable knowledge bases that capture code structure, dependencies, and implementation details, enabling AI to provide accurate answers about unfamiliar code.
The solution deploys specialized assistants designed to help developers understand code functionality, visualize architectural structures, and automate common development tasks. These assistants integrate seamlessly with Visual Studio Code, allowing developers to access AI help without disrupting their workflow.
By providing immediate answers to code questions and automating repetitive tasks, the solution significantly reduces time spent reverse-engineering legacy applications. The resulting knowledge and improved understanding pave the way for future modernization efforts, as teams gain clearer insights into how legacy systems actually function and how they might be enhanced or replaced.
Multi-Agent Architecture
The solution features a multi-agent architecture, where each request is automatically routed to a specialized agent to perform the task. Users can see the reasoning behind each step enabling full transparency into the AI actions.
IDE Integration
DIAL enables seamless integration with VS Code via a specialized plugin, bringing DIAL's AI capabilities directly into the familiar to developers environment.
Codebase Assistant
A specialized RAG agent answers questions on large codebases, performing multiple parallel searches to provide a complete and comprehensive response.
Results
Accelerated code navigation
Developers retrieve answers about legacy code in seconds rather than spending hours manually searching through unfamiliar codebases.
Poorly-documented systems reverse engineering
AI assistants help reverse engineer complex systems with limited documentation, creating clear understanding of functionality that was previously accessible only through tedious code exploration.
Modernization capabilities
Comprehensive understanding of previously opaque systems provides a clear foundation for planning upgrades, migrations, or replacements based on accurate system knowledge.
Used Components
DIAL Ecosystem
Set of tools, agents and applications for building AI-powered business solutions
DIAL Core
Primary system component and integration center