Improving the visibility of graphical program displays: an experimental study

The paper describes an experimental study, which compares the performance of various layout heuristics used to increase the visibility of graphical representations of computer programs. In particular, a special layout graph is considered which is known as m-column graph, and it is used to display data flow program dependencies. We show experimentally that an incremental layout heuristic approach outperforms the traditional layout techniques such as pair exchanging or greedy insertion of graph vertices. Finally, we conclude by presenting our recommendations with respect to the application of such layout heuristics especially on interactive software systems