Visualization in Software Engineering Peter Paquette

Goal/Objective of the Project Investigate current trends and modes of visualization in software Utilize products currently in marketplace  Determine if current products meet needs  Determine gaps in capability Show a benefit for continuing research or pursuing a specific technology

Why is it Needed? Hundreds of billions of dollars spent of software engineering tasks every year Estimate about bugs per thousand lines of code Estimate about $20k per shipped defect Critical Systems  Bugs / Glitches cost lives - medical, military

Current Technology Investigated UML Call Graphs Function Maps Software Metrics Algorithm Visualization

Current Visuals - UML

Current Visuals – Call Graphs

Current Visuals – Function Maps

Current Visuals – Software Metrics

Current Visuals – Algorithm Visualization

Solution Better visualization of a software system and interactions between all aspects of software engineering  Visualizations for each type of worker (coder, tester, manager, contractor)  Integrate systems into one workspace for better flow and usability – utilize APIs and interfaces Ultimately would like a visual programming language that involves little coding for mainstream tasks

Future Goals Integrated visualization of software process  Direct integration into Visual Studio  Common data format (XML) for data elements  Visualization of all aspects of development Requirements Development Software Estimation Development Debugging Maintenance  Tight interactive integration with other tools Source control – Visual Source Safe Bug tracking - Bugzilla Reporting – No current standard way