On selecting software visualization tools for program understanding in an industrial context

Abstract

Discusses issues related to selecting software visualization tools for program understanding in an industrial context. Visualization tools are often advocated as an effective means of aiding program understanding by creating graphical representations of the subject system through reverse engineering. However, there are numerous practical considerations related to tool selection for large, real-world projects that are unaddressed. For example, the choices are often limited to commercial tools that are widely available, that have a low cost of deployment and training, and that easily integrate into existing software engineering processes. To illustrate some of these unique issues, two types of constraints imposed on the process of software visualization tool selection to support program understanding in the domain of embedded, real-time control systems are described.