Università della Svizzera italiana

Empirical validation of CodeCity : a controlled experiment

Wettel, Richard ; Lanza, Michele ; Robbes, Romain

We describe an empirical evaluation of a visualization approach based on a 3D city metaphor, implemented in a tool called CodeCity. We designed the controlled experiment based on a set of lessons extracted from the current body of research and perfected it during a preliminary pilot phase. We then conducted the experiment in four locations across three countries over a period of four months,...

Università della Svizzera italiana

Software systems as cities

Wettel, Richard ; Lanza, Michele (Dir.)

Thèse de doctorat : Università della Svizzera italiana, 2010 ; 2010INFO005.

Software understanding takes up a large share of the total cost of a software system. The high costs attributed to software understanding activities are caused by the size and complexity of software systems, by the continuous evolution that these systems are subject to, and by the lack of physical presence which makes software intangible. Reverse engineering helps practitioners deal with the...