ABSTRACT
Several taxonomies have been proposed to describe the
characteristic features of software visualization systems.
The classic taxonomy by Price, Baecker, and Small[1]
recognizes six major visualization categories, including
Scope, Content, Form, Method, Interaction, and
Effectiveness, each of which contains numerous subcate-
gories. The “Scope” of a visualization system encompasses
the type of program(s) it is designed to visualize, its scal-
ability, and its capability to visualize concurrent programs.
A visualization system’s “Content” refers to what actually
gets visualized. There are two major “Content” categories,
namely, algorithm visualization or program visualization.
Algorithm visualization tools are designed to educate the
user about the functioning of a given algorithm whereas
program visualization refers to the visualization of the
actual program code or data structures in either a dynamic
or static form.[1] The “Form” of a visualization system
refers to the features of the output such as the type of
graphical elements used (e.g., 2D or 3D graphical repre-
sentations), color, or animation. How a visualization sys-
tem is specified is characterized by its “Method” and
includes criteria such as the style of specification, whether
the visualization data is gathered statically or dynamically
at run-time. The final two visualization categories include
the “Interaction” category, which governs the means by
which users interact, navigate, and control the visualiza-
tion, and the “Effectiveness” category that relates to the
quality and clarity of the information portrayed in the
visualization.
