3-D visualisation of design patterns and Java programs in computer science education

  • Authors:

  • Michael Callaghan;Heiko Hirschmüller

  • Affiliations:

  • Department of Computer Science, De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester, UK, LE1 9BH;Department of Computer Science, De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester, UK, LE1 9BH

  • Venue:
  • ITiCSE '98 Proceedings of the 6th annual conference on the teaching of computing and the 3rd annual conference on Integrating technology into computer science education: Changing the delivery of computer science education
  • Year:
  • 1998

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Abstract

Object technology is the dominant software engineering paradigm in most undergraduate computer science courses. Two important topics in this area are design patterns and Java programming, and indeed these are increasingly taught side by side. This paper describes a novel form of visualisation that makes use of a combination of virtual reality and hypertext to represent the structure and behaviour of object-oriented design patterns and simple Java programs, with the overall aim of providing tools to enhance learning and understanding of these topics.For patterns, the solution part of a pattern, which consists of a software fragment of interacting objects, is visualised in an animated 3-dimensional virtual environment. The virtual reality view is embedded in a rich inter-linked hyper-textual description.For Java programs, the source code is first transformed into the same simple software description language (SVL, Software Visualisation Language) used for patterns. Also included is a simple textual specification of a run-time scenario defining the creation of objects and their typical interaction, together with explanatory "comments". As with design patterns, the structure and run-time behaviour of the Java program can then be visualised in three dimensions with synchronised hyper-textual commentary.