Case study: Visual analytics in software product assessments

Abstract

We present how a combination of static source code analysis, repository analysis, and visualization techniques has been used to effectively get and communicate insight in the development and project management problems of a large industrial code base. This study is an example of how visual analytics can be effectively applied to answer maintenance questions and support decision making in the software industry. We comment on the relevant findings during the study both in terms of used technique and applied methodology and outline the favorable factors that were essential in making this type of assessment successful within tight time and budget constraints.