University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

CodeSkimmer: a novel visualization tool for capturing, replaying, and understanding fine-grained change in software

Simmons, Connor

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/44125

Description

Title
CodeSkimmer: a novel visualization tool for capturing, replaying, and understanding fine-grained change in software
Author(s)
Simmons, Connor
Issue Date
2013-05-24T21:51:25Z
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Bailey, Brian P.
Department of Study
Computer Science
Discipline
Computer Science
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.S.
Degree Level
Thesis
Keyword(s)
  • visualization
  • eclipse
  • eclipse plugin
  • code change
  • understanding change
  • understanding code
  • replay
  • code skimming
  • CodeSkimmer
  • code playback
  • user interface
  • playback speed
  • replay speed
  • code filter
Abstract
Understanding change in software development is a time-intensive yet essential task. Developers must understand the evolution of code in order to properly write, revise, and refactor their own additions. Historically, version control systems were the central method for interpreting how a software project has changed over time. However, these systems are limited in the amount of information they can convey and in the ways they allow users to understand change. My thesis is a new way of understanding code change. We created CodeSkimmer, a plug-in for Eclipse that can replay every action a developer took while using the editor. The plug-in offers several ways to aid in interpreting the playback. A visualization shows users, graphically, the types of changes that occurred while social, textual, and temporal filters are provided to mark points of interest in the set of recorded operations. These interesting operations are then highlighted through automatic alteration in the playback speed as well as through different visual methods.
Graduation Semester
2013-05
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/44125
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2013 Connor L Simmons

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