Using Icicle Trees to Encode the Hierarchical Structure of Source Code

Authors

Ivan Bacher, Technological University DublinFollow
Brian Mac Namee, University College Dublin
John D. Kelleher, Technological University DublinFollow

Document Type

Conference Paper

Rights

Available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 4.0 International Licence

Disciplines

Computer Sciences

Publication Details

EuroVis 2016: 18^th. EG/VGTC Conference on Visualization, 6-10 June, 2016, Groningen, the Netherlands

Abstract

This paper presents a study which evaluates the use of a tree visualisation (icicle tree) to encode the hierarchical structure of source code. The tree visualisation was combined with a source code editor in order to function as a compact overview to facilitate the process of comprehending the global structure of a source code document. Results from our study show that pro- viding an overview visualisation led to an increase in accuracy and a decrease in completion time when participants performed counting tasks. However, in locating tasks, the presence of the visualisation led to a decrease in participants’ performance.

Recommended Citation

Bacher, I., Mac Namee, B., & Kelleher, J. (2016). Using icicle trees to encode the hierarchical structure of source code, EuroVis 2016: 18th. 18th EG/VGTC Conference on Visualization, 6-10 June 2016, Groningen, the Netherlands.