LibViews - An information visualization application for third-party libraries on software projects

Abstract

Software libraries allow developers to create software projects upon basic functions already implemented. In this way, it is possible to focus on more complex activities to achieve the software solution aims. Software libraries features and availability on the Internet are the reason for these valuable project resources are widely used. However, there may be some issues in software projects that integrate several libraries, since they are independent projects that must work together. This paper presents LibViews, an information visualization application to create visual representations over libraries metrics and usage on software projects. LibViews was developed to provide a better understanding of libraries versions and their role in software projects, helping in the maintenance of these projects identifying previously unknown information. As use case, LibViews was applied in an university corporate software project, pointing out as a useful tool to understand the relationship between software project and its third-party libraries.