Browsing by Author "Sensalire, Mariam"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Classifying Desirable Features of Software Visualization Tools for Corrective Maintenance
    (ACM symposium on Software visualization, 2008) Sensalire, Mariam; Ogao, Patrick; Telea, Alexandru
    We provide an evaluation of 15 software visualization tools applicable to corrective maintenance. The tasks supported as well as the techniques used are presented and graded based on the support level. By analyzing user acceptation of current tools, we aim to help developers to select what to consider, avoid or improve in their next releases. Tool users can also recognize what to broadly expect (and what not) from such tools, thereby supporting an informed choice for the tools evaluated here and for similar tools.
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    Evaluation of Software Visualization Tools: Lessons Learned
    (IEEE, 2009) Sensalire, Mariam; Ogao, Patrick; Telea, Alexandru
    Many software visualization (SoftVis) tools are continuously being developed by both researchers as well as software development companies. In order to determine if the developed tools are effective in helping their target users, it is desirable that they are exposed to a proper evaluation. Despite this, there is still lack of a general guideline on how these evaluations should be carried out and many of the tool developers perform very limited or no evaluation of their tools. Each person that carries out one evaluation, however, has experiences which, if shared, can guide future evaluators. This paper presents the lessons learned from evaluating over 20 SoftVis tools with over 90 users in five different studies spread on a period of over two years. The lessons covered include the selection of the tools, tasks, as well as evaluation participants. Other discussed points are related to the duration of the evaluation experiment, its location, the procedure followed when carrying out the experiment, as well as motivation of the participants. Finally, an analysis of the lessons learned is shown with the hope that these lessons will be of some assistance to future SoftVis tool evaluators.
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    Model-Based Analysis of Adoption Factors for Software Visualization Tools in Corrective Maintenance
    (2010) Sensalire, Mariam; Ogao, Patrick; Telea, Alexandru
    Several classification models exist for software visualization (SoftVis) tools. Such models can be used to compare the features provided by several tools to the requirements of a given use case, in the process of selecting optimally fitting tools. However, it is not easy to predict how such models will perform when used to predict the adoption of SoftVis tools at large, especially for tools which were not considered during the model design. Here, we consider an existing classification model that aims to provide generic guidelines for comparing SoftVis tools for corrective maintenance (CM) based of their features perceived as desirable by users. Although this model explicitly captures several such features, it is not evident that tools that fit the model will be found effective by users in practice. This paper tests the above hypothesis by presenting a comparative evaluation of four software visualization (SoftVis) tools used in CM. The tools were selected to fit well the desirable criteria captured by the model under evaluation. Four independent groups of professional software devel- opers participated in the evaluation, each group using a different tool to solve the same CM task on a real-world code base under typical industry conditions. The results show matches between the features described by the model as highly desirable and and those observed in practice to be essential for tool acceptance, e.g. IDE integration, extended search capabilities, multiple views, scalability, and the need for both dynamic and static visualizations; weakly relevant features, e.g. the commercial tool status; and features which do not influence acceptance, e.g. 3D and anima- tion. Besides showing the correlation between the classification model and observed practice, our study further refines the model’s criteria seen as important for industrial acceptance of software visualization tools.
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    Visualizing Object Oriented Software: Towards a Point of Reference for Developing Tools for Industry
    (IEEE, 2007) Sensalire, Mariam; Ogao, Patrick
    Developing a software visualization tool that gets high acceptability in the industry or research community would imply success for that particular tool. In the past, many tools have been developed within the academic arena with many more currently being developed. The rate of commercial success for the developed tools however does not match their development rate. In this paper the views of expert programmers are sought on what should be incorporated in a software visualization tool. These views are sought after exposing the programmers to three tools and allowing them to use the tools for a period of time. The results from the observations show that many of the desires of the expert programmers are not catered for in the currently existing tools. The potential need for a point of reference for developing tools for Industry is also discussed.