Top-Down Software Exploration

Another top-down approach is the Software Reflexion Model by Murphy, Notkin,
and Sullivan (1995). The Software Reflexion Model is to capture and exploit the
differences that exist between the source code organization and the designer’s
mental model of the high-level system organization. An engineer defines a high-
level model of the structure of the system and specifies how the model maps to
the source. A tool then computes a software reflexion model that shows where the
engineer’s high-level model agrees with and where it differs from a model of the
source. The primary purpose of this technique is to streamline the amount of time
it takes for someone unfamiliar with the system to understand its source code
structure. (from koshcke-thesis)

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One reason for top-down exploration is supporting supervision. The user needs to
see "his" system evolve.