Software visualization: a CHI '94 workshop

Abstract

In 1981 Ron Baecker presented the film Sorting Out Sorting at SIGGRAPH. The film utilized a number of unique animations to compare and contrast how different sorting algorithms function. Since then a multitude of systems and research projects have addressed the topic of visualizing and animating data structures, programs, algorithms, and processes. These software visualization (SV) systems [5] help students to learn how programs work, assist professional software engineers to debug and understand their code, and provide researchers with insights how to analyze and improve algorithms.

References

1. Baecker, R. M. Sorting Out Sorting. Narrated color videotape, 30 minutes, presented at ACM SIGGRAPH '81 and excerpted in ACM SIGGRAPH Video Review #7, 1983. Morgan Kaufmann: Los Altos, CA.
2. Brown, M. H. Perspectives on algorithm animation. In Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI '88 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 33--38, Washington D. C., May 1988.
3. Brown, M. H. An Introduction to the Zeus Algorithm Animation System. Video Program at the ACM SIGCHI '92 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Monterey, CA, May 1992.
4. Eisenstadt, M. and Brayshaw, M. Visualizing the Execution of Prolog Programs. Video Program at the ACM SIGCHI '88 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Washington D. C., May 1988.
5. Price, B. A., Baecker, R. M., and Small, I. S. A Principled Taxonomy of Software Visualization. Journal of Visual Languages and Computing, 4(3), pp. 211--266, September 1993.
6. Stasko, J. T., Badre, A., and Lewis, C. Do Algorithm Animations Assist Learning? An Empirical Study and Analysis. In Proceedings of the INTERCHI '93 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 61--66, Amsterdam, Netherlands, April 1993.
7. Stasko, J. T. Using Direct Manipulation to Build Algorithm Animations by Demonstration. In Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI '91 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 307--314, New Orleans, LA, May' 1991.
8. Steffen, J. L. and Eick, S. G. High Interaction Data Visualization Using See-soft to Visualize Program Change History, Video Program at the INTERCHI '93 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Amsterdam, Netherlands, April 1993.

Index Terms

• General and reference

  • Document types

    • General conference proceedings

• Human-centered computing

  • Human computer interaction (HCI)

• Software and its engineering