Software Architecture Visualization Research Articles

A systematic review of software architecture visualization techniques

ContextGiven the increased interest in using visualization techniques (VTs) to help communicate and understand software architecture (SA) of large scale complex systems, several VTs and tools have been reported to represent architectural elements (such as architecture design, architectural patterns, and architectural design decisions). However, there is no attempt to systematically review and classify the VTs and associated tools reported for SA, and how they have been assessed and applied. ObjectiveThis work aimed at systematically reviewing the literature on software architecture visualization to develop a classification of VTs in SA, analyze the level of reported evidence and the use of different VTs for representing SA in different application domains, and identify the gaps for future research in the area. MethodWe used systematic literature review (SLR) method of the evidence-based software engineering (EBSE) for reviewing the literature on VTs for SA. We used both manual and automatic search strategies for searching the relevant papers published between 1 February 1999 and 1 July 2011. ResultsWe selected 53 papers from the initially retrieved 23,056 articles for data extraction, analysis, and synthesis based on pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The results from the data analysis enabled us to classify the identified VTs into four types based on the usage popularity: graph-based, notation-based, matrix-based, and metaphor-based VTs. The VTs in SA are mostly used for architecture recovery and architectural evolution activities. We have also identified ten purposes of using VTs in SA. Our results also revealed that VTs in SA have been applied to a wide range of application domains, among which “graphics software” and “distributed system” have received the most attention. ConclusionSA visualization has gained significant importance in understanding and evolving software-intensive systems. However, only a few VTs have been employed in industrial practice. This review has enabled us to identify the following areas for further research and improvement: (i) it is necessary to perform more research on applying visualization techniques in architectural analysis, architectural synthesis, architectural implementation, and architecture reuse activities; (ii) it is essential to pay more attention to use more objective evaluation methods (e.g., controlled experiment) for providing more convincing evidence to support the promised benefits of using VTs in SA; (iii) it is important to conduct industrial surveys for investigating how software architecture practitioners actually employ VTs in architecting process and what are the issues that hinder and prevent them from adopting VTs in SA.

Tiny- Notational Approach for Software Architecture Visualization

he present paper derives and constructs a new visualization methodology called Tiny-Notational Approach, developed for better visualization of software architecture (SA). The are designed to specify the underlined concepts that a software entity, module and component belong to. The software architects can apply the Tiny-Notations to determine a particular software component or its activities related to another component because they provide additional information to address the understandability and mutual communication issues of the stakeholders related to SA. The proposed notations are easy to use and understand, and also several design aspects of components may be focused for domain specific analysis. The paper presents an implementation scenario of a web-based client-server system with its software architecture.

Connecting research and practice: an experience report on research infusion with software architecture visualization and evaluation

There are many technical challenges in ensuring high life-time quality of NASA's systems. Some of NASA's software-related challenges could potentially be addressed by the many powerful technologies that are being developed in software research laboratories. However, most such research technologies do not make the transition from the research lab to the software lab because research infusion and technology transfer is difficult. For example, there must be evidence that the technology works in the practitioner's particular domain, and there must be a potential for great improvements and enhanced competitive edge for the practitioner, for such infusion to take place. NASA IV&V's Research Infusion initiative strives to facilitate such infusion. In 2006, a research infusion project involving Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) and the Fraunhofer Center for Experimental Software Engineering Maryland, was successfully completed infusing Fraunhofer's software architecture visualization and evaluation (SAVE) tool. The infusion project helped improve JHU/APL's software architecture and produced evidence that SAVE is applicable to software architecture problems in the aerospace domain, spawning a series of related research infusion projects. The project also led to the discovery of other needs that could not be addressed by current technologies and, therefore, spawned the research and development of a new technology that will be ready for infusion in the future. This paper describes the SAVE technology followed by a description of the infusion of SAVE at JHU/APL and the other projects that followed, as well as the newly started Dynamic SAVE research and development project. Lessons learned related to various aspects of research infusion conclude the paper.

A Framework for Software Architecture Visualization and Evaluation

This paper presents a framework for visualization and evaluation of software architectural styles. There has been significant research made to improve the software architecture visualization and evaluation. Most of the tools developed for this purpose don’t satisfy all the framework’s elements. Hence the paper presents a framework that builds modules from requirements, measure modularity, visualizes architecture and evaluates the visualized architecture satisfying all elements.

Software Architecture Visualization: An Evaluation Framework and Its Application

In order to characterize and improve software architecture visualization practice, the paper derives and constructs a qualitative framework, with seven key areas and 31 features, for the assessment of software architecture visualization tools. The framework is derived by the application of the Goal Question Metric paradigm to information obtained from a literature survey and addresses a number of stakeholder issues. The evaluation is performed from multiple stakeholder perspectives and in various architectural contexts. Stakeholders can apply the framework to determine if a particular software architecture visualization tool is appropriate to a given task. The framework is applied in the evaluation of a collection of six software architecture visualization tools. The framework may also be used as a design template for a comprehensive software architecture visualization tool.