Visualizing Object-Oriented Software Systems Through Class Contours

Speaker: Mattia Giannaccari, USI

Abstract: Understanding object-oriented software systems requires developers to mentally reconstruct the roles and relationships of classes from scattered lines of code, a slow, cognitively demanding process that scales poorly with codebase size. In this SI seminar, I present Class Contours, a novel 2D visualization metaphor that portrays individual classes as stylized architectural structures. Key class properties such as number of lines of code, attributes, and methods are encoded into building visual properties like its size, doors, and windows, enabling pattern recognition and design issue detection at a glance. I will show how Class Contours reveal common class archetypes, such as data, utility, God classes, and more, along with code smells and design inconsistencies, all without reading a single line of source code.

Biography: Mattia Giannaccari is a Ph.D. student in the REVEAL group advised by Prof. Dr. Michele Lanza and Dr. Marco Raglianti. His research interests revolve around software visualization and program comprehension, with a focus on novel metaphors for understanding object-oriented systems. Prior to starting his Ph.D., he earned a double Master’s degree in Computer Science from Università della Svizzera italiana and Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca.

Chair: Joey Bevilacqua

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In February 2019, the Software Institute started its SI Seminar Series. Every Thursday afternoon, a researcher of the Institute will publicly give a short talk on a software engineering argument of their choice. Examples include, but are not limited to novel interesting papers, seminal papers, personal research overview, discussion of preliminary research ideas, tutorials, and small experiments.

On our YouTube playlist you can watch some of the past seminars. On the SI website you can find more details on the next seminar, the upcoming seminars, and an archive of the past speakers.