Visualizing Message Patterns in Object-Oriented Program Executions
Dean Frederick Jerding, John Stasko, Thomas J. Ball · 1996
The dynamic behavior of object-oriented programs is difficult to design, implement, and modify. Understanding the interactions between classes and objects is necessary to create efficient designs and make safe modifications. This work seeks to identify, visualize, and analyze recurring message patterns in object-oriented program executions as a means for understanding and examining dynamic behavior. Our visualizations focus on supporting design recovery, validation, and reengineering tasks. Keywords: software visualization, object-oriented programs, program understanding, software reengineering 1 Addressing Problems of OO Dynamics The importance of dynamic behavior in the design and implementation of object-oriented (OO) systems cannot be over-emphasized. Object-oriented analysis and design techniques (OOA/D) that evolve around object models created from static problem statements or object decomposition of real-world systems must not avoid the dynamic issues. Usage-scenario based a...