Software reverse engineering is frequently mentioned in several contexts, including many illegal activities. In the U.S. there is a legal rule allowing reverse engineering of an object if the license for it was obtained in a legal way and the results wont be used in any illegal activity. In this short post, well try to provide some basic software reverse engineering tips, how to start, and what a reverser should know. To reverse a software piece, you should be familiar with the typical patterns and translation / compilation nuances of the code in the particular language.”]
Source: http://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/46606/hacking/software-reverse-engineering-process-basics.html