Understanding Web Applications Using Component Based Visual Patterns

This paper introduces our approach for high-level system understanding that uses software visualization to analyze the presentation layer of Web applications. The technique is driven by static analysis, relies on state-of-the art concepts, and is technology-aware, so that it focuses on those precise particularities of the application's presentation layer that define its Web presence. By combining an approach initially developed for software testing with visualization, the essential structural dependencies between and within the Web components are extracted and reviewed. Initial evaluation shows that the technique is able to provide a comprehensive view that is very useful in spotting new and interesting visual patterns that give significant insight for software comprehension.