Facilitating Exploration of Unfamiliar Source Code by Providing 2½D Visualizations of Dynamic Call Graphs

@inproceedings{citeulike:1674346, abstract = {For modifying functionality of legacy software systems developers often need to work within millions of lines of unfamiliar code. In this paper we propose a concept that exploits dynamic call graphs for (a) identifying code parts that implement the functionality to be modified and (b) guiding developers while navigating from one source code file to another. The proposed concept is implemented within a tool for analyzing complex C/C++ software systems and has been tested on various million LOC systems. The tool provides a visualization front-end that permits developers to explore the system implementation on 3 levels of abstraction: (1) source code, (2) function interaction, and (3) module interaction. A 2½D visualization view exploits perspective distortion for displaying both detailed and context information on functions and modules, by this, supporting developers during their comprehension tasks.}, author = {Bohnet, Johannes and Dollner, Jurgen }, booktitle = {Visualizing Software for Understanding and Analysis, 2007. VISSOFT 2007. 4th IEEE International Workshop on}, citeulike-article-id = {1674346}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/VISSOF.2007.4290701}, journal = {Visualizing Software for Understanding and Analysis, 2007. VISSOFT 2007. 4th IEEE International Workshop on}, keywords = {call-graph, visualization}, pages = {63--66}, posted-at = {2007-09-19 07:51:03}, priority = {2}, title = {Facilitating Exploration of Unfamiliar Source Code by Providing 2½D Visualizations of Dynamic Call Graphs}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/VISSOF.2007.4290701}, year = {2007} }

TY - CONF ID - citeulike:1674346 L3 - citeulike-article-id:1674346 TI - Facilitating Exploration of Unfamiliar Source Code by Providing 2½D Visualizations of Dynamic Call Graphs T2 - Visualizing Software for Understanding and Analysis, 2007. VISSOFT 2007. 4th IEEE International Workshop on JF - Visualizing Software for Understanding and Analysis, 2007. VISSOFT 2007. 4th IEEE International Workshop on SP - 63 EP - 66 N2 - For modifying functionality of legacy software systems developers often need to work within millions of lines of unfamiliar code. In this paper we propose a concept that exploits dynamic call graphs for (a) identifying code parts that implement the functionality to be modified and (b) guiding developers while navigating from one source code file to another. The proposed concept is implemented within a tool for analyzing complex C/C++ software systems and has been tested on various million LOC systems. The tool provides a visualization front-end that permits developers to explore the system implementation on 3 levels of abstraction: (1) source code, (2) function interaction, and (3) module interaction. A 2½D visualization view exploits perspective distortion for displaying both detailed and context information on functions and modules, by this, supporting developers during their comprehension tasks. KW - call-graph KW - visualization AU - Bohnet, Johannes AU - Dollner, Jurgen PY - 2007/// UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/VISSOF.2007.4290701 ER -