Towards Visualizing Code Annotations Distribution

Abstract

Java developers make extensive use of code annotations sincetheir introduction in version 5 of the language. They areinserted directly on the source code for custom metadata configuration,similar to C# attributes. The software engineeringcommunity has few works investigating their usage and impacton source code. Being able to visualize characteristics ofcode annotations might aid developers in detecting potentialmisuse, outliers as well as increase the comprehensibility andreadability of the source code. In this paper, we present anapproach to use software metrics to generate a 2D polymetricview targeting the visualization of code annotations in Javaclasses. We developed a prototype tool using the Unity GameEngine. It displays classes and packages as rectangles andannotations as circles. We demonstrated the tool with a smallsample Java program.