Software Architecture Visualization: An Evaluation Framework and Its Application

  • Authors:
  • Keith Gallagher;Andrew Hatch;Malcolm Munro

  • Affiliations:
  • -;-;-

  • Venue:
  • IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering
  • Year:
  • 2008

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Abstract

In order to characterize and improve software architecture visualization practice, the paper derives and constructs a qualitative framework, with 7 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.