Computer, December 1968 and 1993 [50 & 25 Years Ago]

Software Visualisation, 1996

Program visualisation focuses on the graphical representation of an executing program and its data. The information is presented in a form designed to enhance both the understanding and productivity of the programmer through the e cient use of the human visual system. The programmer is able to observe patterns of behaviour within the executing code and rapidly detect a departure from the expected behaviour pattern. However, depending on the programming paradigms and architectural platforms utilized, the variety and manner in which information is best presented varies. This chapter attempts to discuss the general aspects of program visualisation, including the variety of purposes, the general steps needed to provide such visualisation, and the ideals that a program visualisation tool can achieve. The requirements for visualization systems also vary across architectural platforms, and software systems, which include programming paradigms and the system environment. Some representative visualisation systems are also presented and examined, providing an overall view of the practice and the achievements made to date in program visualisation.

Proceedings of Methods, Materials and Tools for …

Journal of Visual Languages & Computing, 1990

here has been a great interest recently in systems that use graphics to aid in the programming, ' debugging, and understanding of computer systems. The terms ''Visual Programming'' and 'Program Visualization'' have been applied to these systems. This paper attempts to provide t more meaning to these terms by giving precise definitions, and then surveys a number of sys ems that can be classified as providing Visual Programming or Program Visualization. These systems are organized by classifying them into three different taxonomies.

Proceedings 1996 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages, 1996

The motivation for this work stems from the lack of good visual tools for describing the execution of procedure-level constructs such as procedures, functions, coroutines, iterators, methods, and processes. Our proposed solution to this problem is an extension of an old technique called the contour diagram, which was originally used to give semantics for Algol-like languages. Our extensions allow the contour diagram to be used for more modern languages, such as object-oriented languages, logic languages, etc. In this paper, we explain this extended notation, and its use in visualizing the execution of procedural, object-oriented and logic programs. The significance of this extension is that it can serve as a basis for program visualization tools.

Proceedings of TENCON '93. IEEE Region 10 International Conference on Computers, Communications and Automation, 1993

This paper illustrates the variety of visualization techniques that are employed for various programming paradigms, examining the type of information required and the advantages that the information provides the programmer. We examine the specific visualization requirements for each paradigm and the general requirements of visualization systems which depict the flow of control for both sequential and parallel program execution. We find that many of the visualization systems currently available tend to focus on only one aspect of the visualization requirements rather than the broad base of needs of the programmer. The need to integrate these visualization systems in the future is highlighted.

2008

One of the definitions for visualization is to give a visible appearance to something, making

2004

In this paper, we present the development of a program parser coupled with an off-the-shelf interactive program visualization tool that assists in the understanding of complex computer programs. The major objective of this work is to quickly help newcomers become familiar with existing software code and become productive members of the software development team. These software systems that often incorporate several interacting pieces will be produced and maintained by several individuals and/or vendors. Hence, it will be difficult for one individual or group to be fully cognizant of the intricacies of the overall software system. In work-related training, interactive visual systems will be required to provide support for teaching organizations' newer workforce to quickly learn and effectively contribute to the development and maintenance of these complex and critical software systems. An environment that provides an in-depth view of the software system will be necessary to fulfill this requirement. Additionally, an interactive visual system may provide a means to dynamically access and analyze the skills and capabilities of trainees for skill-based job placement.

System Sciences, 1992. …, 1992

Software visualization is the use of interactive computer graphics, typography, graphic design, animation, and cinematography to enhance the interface between the software engineer or the computer science student and their programs. Although several taxonomies of software visualization have been proposed, they use few dimensions and do not span the space of important distinctions between systems. We attempt to fill this gap in the literature by proposing a novel and systematic taxonomy of six areas making up thirty characteristic features of software visualization technology. The taxonomy is presented and illustrated in terms of its application to seven systems of historic importance and technical interest.

2009

Program domain concepts are rather complex and low level for a fast assimilation. On the other hand, problem domain concepts are closer to human's mind, hence they are easier to perceive. Based on Brook's theory, a full comprehension of a program is only achieved if both domains are connected and visualized in synchronization, resulting on an action-effect visualization.

2001

Visualisation is compelling because of it has multidimensionality of presentation, data integration, and use. It facilitates understanding and analysis of complex data through opening up the visual perceptive channel as well as relying on the more standard forms of information location, assimilation and insight. The use of visualisation techniques to aid those who work with systems and software is one of the areas of complex and large data sets known to be candidates for successful visualisations. There are also the historical issues of software visualisation being exclusively linked to areas such as algorithm animation and for learning to debug. Software is complex, multi-faceted, large, and contains many relationships between its component parts. Therefore there are many aspects of software that may be appropriate for visualisation.