Visualisation for informed decision making; from code to components

Abstract

The problem of trying to view and comprehend large amounts of data is a well-known one. A specialised variant of this problem is the visualisation of software code and components for the purposes of understanding, decision-making, reuse and even integration. In particular the visualisation of software components, at a much higher level than source code, has received very little research. Visualisation is a powerful tool in situations such as this. This paper presents the application of real world metaphor based visualisations that address this problem. The application of visualisation to selecting software components is especially novel. It seeks to decrease the effort required by system integrators when locating suitable components in what is an increasingly crowded marketplace. Accurate information and understanding are vital if correct and informed decisions and judgements are to be made.