Runtime visualization of software architecture behavior

This work presents new efforts on runtime visualization of software architecture behavior. In particular, this work aims to address the shortcomings of current approaches with the development of interactive runtime visualizations that emphasize dynamic aspects of software architecture. Our visualizations capture, process, and display architectural message flow information from event-based systems in real-time. This work draws upon research in graphics and human perception to develop new techniques for representing system behavior. A series of user studies analyzed responses to runtime questions while working with our tools. The results of the studies suggest that at least one of our visualizations is more effective at conveying runtime behavior information than text printouts of system messages. There is also strong evidence that the other visualizations in this work offer helpful insight into architectural runtime behavior.