Software Landscapes: Visualizing the Structure of Large Software Systems

Modern object-oriented programs are hierarchical systems with many thousands of interrelated subsystems. Visualization helps developers to better comprehend these large and complex systems. This paper presents a three-dimensional visualization technique that represents the static structure of object-oriented programs using landscape-like distributions of three-dimensional objects on a two-dimensional plane. The familiar landscape metaphor facilitates intuitive navigation and comprehension. The visual complexity is reduced by adjusting the transparency of object surfaces to the distance of the viewpoint. An approach called Hierarchical Net is proposed for a clear representation of the relationships between the subsystems. Categories and Subject Descriptors (according to ACM CCS): D.2.7 [Software Engineering]: Distribution, Maintenance, and Enhancement; I.3.8 [Computer Graphics]: Applications

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2004
• Where: VISSYM
• Authors: Michael Balzer, Andreas Noack, Oliver Deussen, Claus Lewerentz
• Keywords: Modern Object-oriented Programs, Object-oriented Programs, Three-dimensional Visualization Technique, VISSYM 2004, Visualization