Helping end users find and fix performance issues in visual dataflow code

In this paper, the author discusses three techniques that will help end users find and fix performance problems in dataflow code. All of these techniques adapt the established concept of a “bad smell,” which is a heuristic for finding sections of code that function correctly but that have poor maintainability. This concept is adapted and applied in the context of visual dataflow languages for the novel purpose of helping them find and fix a broad range of performance problems. To test these techniques, we will create a prototype that applies them to LabVIEW. Using this prototype, we will conduct several user studies to evaluate how useful each technique is and how well they help end users to find and fix performance problems.