Aiding programmers using lightweight integrated code visualization

Abstract

We present a Lightweight Integrated Code Visualization (LICV) tool designed to aid programmers using Integrated Development Environments (IDEs). LICV is implemented as a plug-in for the Eclipse IDE for Java Developers. LICV continuously tracks the active editor in the IDE and visualizes up to 24 code features in a designated non-intrusive view. LICV is designed to facilitate fast understanding of the structure of the code in order to help users carry out routine programming tasks. It enables users to zoom, filter, search, and go back and forth between the code and the visualization via direct manipulation. We evaluated LICV by carrying out two user studies which compared LICV against regular Eclipse in four tasks. We found that LICV significantly reduced participants’ completion times by nearly 50% for three out of four tasks. Further, participants significantly preferred using LICV to perform the tasks.