Article - Main Track

Annotation Visualizer Plugin: An IDE-Integrated Tool for Code Annotations Visualization

Author: ABILIO, S., LIMA, P., GOMES, E. et al.

Abstract: Code annotations are used mainly in modern Java software, and their primary purpose is to configure metadata into programmable elements such as methods and classes. The Annotation Sniffer is a stable tool that analyses Java source code and generates a JSON report with code annotations metrics values. In other words, it measures metadata configuration in the Java source file. The Annotation Visualizer is a tool built as a web application to render the visualization using this report as input. In this work, we developed a tool that integrates the Annotation Visualizer as a plugin for the IntelliJ IDEA, a popular Java IDE. This integration allows developers to visualize their current project opened in the IDE without switching to an external environment. With an IDE plugin, developers can potentially benefit from the visualization and the metrics values it can display. Furthermore, IDEs have a marketplace that eases obtaining the tool and increases the probability that the developers might use it.

Keywords: Annotation Code, Annotation Metrics, Software Visualization, Visualization Tool.

Full paper

Full Reference: Abilio, S., Lima, P., Gomes, E. et al., "Annotation Visualizer Plugin: An IDE-Integrated Tool for Code Annotations Visualization", Revista de Sistemas de Informação da FSMA n 30(2022) pp. 28-37

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