GUESS: a language and interface for graph exploration

  • Authors:
  • Eytan Adar

  • Affiliations:
  • University of Washington, Seattle, WA

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
  • Year:
  • 2006

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Abstract

As graph models are applied to more widely varying fields, researchers struggle with tools for exploring and analyzing these structures. We describe GUESS, a novel system for graph exploration that combines an interpreted language with a graphical front end that allows researchers to rapidly prototype and deploy new visualizations. GUESS also contains a novel, interactive interpreter that connects the language and interface in a way that facilities exploratory visualization tasks. Our language, Gython, is a domain-specific embedded language which provides all the advantages of Python with new, graph specific operators, primitives, and shortcuts. We highlight key aspects of the system in the context of a large user survey and specific, real-world, case studies ranging from social and knowledge networks to distributed computer network analysis.