Price, B.A., Baecker, R.M., and Small, I.S.
``A Principled Taxonomy of Sofware Visualization''
Journal of Visual Languages and Computing 4(3):211-266.
Abstract
In the early 1980's researchers began building systems to visualize computer
programs and algorithms using newly emerging graphical workstation technology.
After more than a decade of advances in interface technology, a large variety
of systems has been built and many different aspects of the visualization
process have been investigated. As in any new branch of a science, a taxonomy
is required so that researchers can use a common language to discuss the merits
of existing systems, classify new ones (to see if they really are new), and
identify gaps which suggest promising areas for further development. Several
authors have suggested taxonomies for these visualization systems, but they
have been ad hoc and have relied on only a handful of characteristics to
describe a large and diverse area of work. Another major drawback of these
taxonomies is their inability to accommodate expansion: there is no clear way
to add new categories when the need arises.
In this paper we present a detailed taxonomy of systems for the visualization
of computer software. This taxonomy was derived from an established black-box
model of software and is composed of a hierarchy with six broad categories at
the top and over thirty leaf-level nodes at four hierarchical levels. We
describe twelve important systems in detail and apply the taxonomy to them in
order to illustrate its features. After discussing each system in this
context, we analyze its coverage of the categories and present a research
agenda for future work in the area.
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B.A.Price@open.ac.uk / 14 July 94