Software Design Visualization

Modern software projects are extremely complex systems. A small subprogram may require intense study to understand its intended functionality, yet even modest software applications have thousands of such subprograms. Assessing software quality is critical, but an engineer tasked with analyzing or modifying an unfamiliar software project is faced with a steep learning curve. We propose to survey visualization techniques for representing important software properties. The property we intend to focus on in Phase I is security. Effective visualization of security properties will be extremely valuable to developers and security auditors. We plan to leverage open visualization standards and our own proven analysis tools to experimentally assess the state of the art. We will implement a prototype security visualization tool based on the most promising techniques.