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Designing a Software Exploration Tool Using a Cognitive Framework

  • Chapter
Software Visualization

Part of the book series: The Springer International Series in Engineering and Computer Science ((SECS,volume 734))

Abstract

Software visualization is considered by many researchers to be a useful and powerful technique for helping programmers understand large and complex programs. Consequently, many visualization tools have been developed for exploring software code and documentation. Some software visualization tools use graphical representations for the navigation, analysis and presentation of software information to further understanding [43]. For instance, several software visualization tools show animations with the goal of teaching widely used algorithms and data structures. Another class of tools shows the dynamic execution of programs for debugging, profiling and for understanding run-time behavior. Other software visualization tools mainly focus on showing textual representations, some of which may be pretty printed to increase understanding [4, 15] or use hypertext in an effort to improve the navigability of the software [40].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, University of Victoria, PO Box 3055, STN CSC, Victoria, B.C., V8W 3P6, Canada

    Margaret-Anne Storey

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  1. Margaret-Anne Storey
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Computer Science Department, The University of Texas at Dallas, USA

    Kang Zhang (Associate Professor) (Associate Professor)

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Storey, MA. (2003). Designing a Software Exploration Tool Using a Cognitive Framework. In: Zhang, K. (eds) Software Visualization. The Springer International Series in Engineering and Computer Science, vol 734. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0457-3_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0457-3_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-5086-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-0457-3

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