<s>
A	O
software	B-Application
map	I-Application
represents	O
static	O
,	O
dynamic	O
,	O
and	O
evolutionary	O
information	O
of	O
software	O
systems	O
and	O
their	O
software	O
development	O
processes	O
by	O
means	O
of	O
2D	O
or	O
3D	O
map-oriented	O
information	B-Application
visualization	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
constitutes	O
a	O
fundamental	O
concept	O
and	O
tool	O
in	O
software	B-Application
visualization	I-Application
,	O
software	O
analytics	O
,	O
and	O
software	B-General_Concept
diagnosis	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
primary	O
applications	O
include	O
risk	O
analysis	O
for	O
and	O
monitoring	O
of	O
code	O
quality	O
,	O
team	O
activity	O
,	O
or	O
software	O
development	O
progress	O
and	O
,	O
generally	O
,	O
improving	O
effectiveness	O
of	O
software	B-General_Concept
engineering	I-General_Concept
with	O
respect	O
to	O
all	O
related	O
artifacts	O
,	O
processes	O
,	O
and	O
stakeholders	O
throughout	O
the	O
software	B-General_Concept
engineering	I-General_Concept
process	O
and	O
software	O
maintenance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	B-Application
maps	I-Application
are	O
applied	O
in	O
the	O
context	O
of	O
software	B-General_Concept
engineering	I-General_Concept
:	O
Complex	O
,	O
long-term	O
software	O
development	O
projects	O
are	O
commonly	O
faced	O
by	O
manifold	O
difficulties	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
friction	O
between	O
completing	O
system	O
features	O
and	O
,	O
at	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
,	O
obtaining	O
a	O
high	O
degree	O
of	O
code	O
quality	O
and	O
software	O
quality	O
to	O
ensure	O
software	O
maintenance	O
of	O
the	O
system	O
in	O
the	O
future	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
key	O
idea	O
of	O
software	B-Application
maps	I-Application
is	O
to	O
cope	O
with	O
that	O
challenge	O
and	O
optimization	O
problems	O
by	O
providing	O
effective	O
communication	O
means	O
to	O
close	O
the	O
communication	O
gap	O
among	O
the	O
various	O
stakeholders	O
and	O
information	O
domains	O
within	O
software	O
development	O
projects	O
and	O
obtaining	O
insights	O
in	O
the	O
sense	O
of	O
information	B-Application
visualization	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	B-Application
maps	I-Application
take	O
advantage	O
of	O
well-defined	O
cartographic	O
map	O
techniques	O
using	O
the	O
virtual	O
3D	B-Application
city	I-Application
model	I-Application
metaphor	O
to	O
express	O
the	O
underlying	O
complex	O
,	O
abstract	O
information	O
space	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	B-Application
maps	I-Application
are	O
non-spatial	O
maps	O
that	O
have	O
to	O
convert	O
the	O
hierarchy	O
data	O
and	O
its	O
attributes	O
into	O
a	O
spatial	O
representation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	B-Application
maps	I-Application
generally	O
allow	O
for	O
comprehensible	O
and	O
effective	O
communication	O
of	O
course	O
,	O
risks	O
,	O
and	O
costs	O
of	O
software	O
development	O
projects	O
to	O
various	O
stakeholders	O
such	O
as	O
management	O
and	O
development	O
teams	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
A	O
key	O
aspect	O
for	O
this	O
decision-making	O
is	O
that	O
software	B-Application
maps	I-Application
provide	O
the	O
structural	O
context	O
required	O
for	O
correct	O
interpretation	O
of	O
these	O
performance	O
indicators	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
an	O
instrument	O
of	O
communication	O
,	O
software	B-Application
maps	I-Application
act	O
as	O
open	O
,	O
transparent	O
information	O
spaces	O
which	O
enable	O
priorities	O
of	O
code	O
quality	O
and	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
new	O
functions	O
to	O
be	O
balanced	O
against	O
one	O
another	O
and	O
to	O
decide	O
upon	O
and	O
implement	O
necessary	O
measures	O
to	O
improve	O
the	O
software	O
development	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	B-Application
maps	I-Application
are	O
based	O
on	O
objective	O
information	O
as	O
determined	O
by	O
the	O
KPI	O
driven	O
code	O
analysis	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
by	O
imported	O
information	O
from	O
software	B-Application
repository	I-Application
systems	O
,	O
information	O
from	O
the	O
source	O
codes	O
,	O
or	O
software	B-Application
development	I-Application
tools	I-Application
and	O
programming	B-Application
tools	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
particular	O
,	O
software	B-Application
maps	I-Application
are	O
not	O
bound	O
to	O
a	O
specific	O
programming	O
language	O
,	O
modeling	B-Language
language	I-Language
,	O
or	O
software	O
development	O
process	O
model	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	B-Application
maps	I-Application
use	O
the	O
hierarchy	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
implementation	O
artifacts	O
such	O
as	O
source	O
code	O
files	O
as	O
a	O
base	O
to	O
build	O
a	O
tree	B-Application
mapping	I-Application
,	O
i.e.	O
,	O
a	O
rectangular	O
area	O
that	O
represents	O
the	O
whole	O
hierarchy	O
,	O
subdividing	O
the	O
area	O
into	O
rectangular	O
sub-areas	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
software	B-Application
map	I-Application
,	O
informally	O
speaking	O
,	O
looks	O
similar	O
to	O
a	O
virtual	O
3D	B-Application
city	I-Application
model	I-Application
,	O
whereby	O
artifacts	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
system	O
appear	O
as	O
virtual	O
,	O
rectangular	O
3D	O
buildings	O
or	O
towers	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
placed	O
according	O
to	O
their	O
position	O
in	O
the	O
software	O
implementation	O
hierarchy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	B-Application
maps	I-Application
can	O
express	O
and	O
combine	O
information	O
about	O
software	O
development	O
,	O
software	O
quality	O
,	O
and	O
system	O
dynamics	O
by	O
mapping	O
that	O
information	O
onto	O
visual	O
variables	O
of	O
the	O
tree	B-Application
map	I-Application
elements	O
such	O
as	O
footprint	O
size	O
,	O
height	O
,	O
color	O
or	O
texture	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	B-Application
maps	I-Application
"	O
combine	O
thematic	O
information	O
about	O
software	O
development	O
processes	O
(	O
evolution	O
)	O
,	O
software	O
quality	O
,	O
structure	O
,	O
and	O
dynamics	O
and	O
display	O
that	O
information	O
in	O
a	O
cartographic	O
manner	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
this	O
exemplary	O
configuration	O
,	O
the	O
software	B-Application
map	I-Application
shows	O
crucial	O
points	O
in	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
with	O
relations	O
to	O
aspects	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
development	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	B-Application
maps	I-Application
represent	O
key	O
tools	O
in	O
the	O
scope	O
of	O
automated	O
software	B-General_Concept
diagnosis	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	B-Application
maps	I-Application
can	O
be	O
used	O
,	O
in	O
particular	O
,	O
as	O
analysis	O
and	O
presentation	O
tool	O
of	O
business	B-General_Concept
intelligence	I-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
,	O
specialized	O
in	O
the	O
analysis	O
of	O
software	O
related	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Furthermore	O
,	O
software	B-Application
maps	I-Application
"	O
serve	O
as	O
recommendation	O
systems	O
for	O
software	B-General_Concept
engineering	I-General_Concept
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	B-Application
maps	I-Application
are	O
not	O
limited	O
by	O
software-related	O
information	O
:	O
They	O
can	O
include	O
any	O
hierarchical	O
system	O
information	O
as	O
well	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
maintenance	O
information	O
about	O
complex	O
technical	O
artifacts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	B-Application
maps	I-Application
are	O
investigated	O
in	O
the	O
domain	O
of	O
software	B-Application
visualization	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
visualization	O
of	O
software	B-Application
maps	I-Application
is	O
commonly	O
based	O
on	O
tree	B-Application
mapping	I-Application
,	O
"	O
a	O
space-filling	O
approach	O
to	O
the	O
visualization	O
of	O
hierarchical	O
information	O
structures	O
"	O
or	O
other	O
hierarchy	O
mapping	O
approaches	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
construct	O
software	B-Application
maps	I-Application
,	O
different	O
layout	O
approaches	O
are	O
used	O
to	O
generate	O
the	O
basic	O
spatial	O
mapping	O
of	O
components	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Tree-map	B-Application
algorithms	O
that	O
initially	O
map	O
the	O
software	O
hierarchy	O
into	O
a	O
recursively	O
nested	O
rectangular	O
area	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Voronoi-map	O
algorithms	O
that	O
initially	O
map	O
the	O
software	O
hierarchy	O
by	O
generating	O
a	O
Voronoi	B-Architecture
map	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
spatial	O
arrangement	O
computed	O
by	O
layouts	O
such	O
as	O
defined	O
by	O
tree	B-Application
maps	I-Application
strictly	O
depends	O
on	O
the	O
hierarchy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
software	B-Application
maps	I-Application
have	O
to	O
be	O
generated	O
frequently	O
for	O
an	O
evolving	O
or	O
changing	O
system	O
,	O
the	O
usability	O
of	O
software	B-Application
maps	I-Application
is	O
affected	O
by	O
non-stable	O
layouts	O
,	O
that	O
is	O
,	O
minor	O
changes	O
to	O
the	O
hierarchy	O
may	O
cause	O
significant	O
changes	O
to	O
the	O
layout	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
contrast	O
to	O
regular	O
Voronoi	B-Architecture
treemap	B-Application
algorithms	O
,	O
which	O
do	O
not	O
provide	O
deterministic	O
layouts	O
,	O
the	O
layout	O
algorithm	O
for	O
Voronoi	B-Architecture
treemaps	B-Application
can	O
be	O
extended	O
to	O
provides	O
a	O
high	O
degree	O
of	O
layout	O
similarity	O
for	O
varying	O
hierarchies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Similar	O
approaches	O
exist	O
for	O
the	O
tree-map	B-Application
based	O
case	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	B-Application
maps	I-Application
methods	O
and	O
techniques	O
belong	O
to	O
the	O
scientific	O
displine	O
of	O
Software	B-Application
visualization	I-Application
and	O
information	B-Application
visualization	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
form	O
a	O
key	O
concept	O
and	O
technique	O
within	O
the	O
fields	O
of	O
software	B-General_Concept
diagnosis	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
also	O
have	O
applications	O
in	O
software	B-Algorithm
mining	I-Algorithm
and	O
software	O
analytics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	B-Application
maps	I-Application
have	O
been	O
extensively	O
developed	O
and	O
researched	O
by	O
,	O
e.g.	O
,	O
at	O
the	O
Hasso	O
Plattner	O
Institute	O
for	O
IT	O
systems	O
engineering	O
,	O
in	O
particular	O
for	O
large-scale	O
,	O
complex	O
IT	O
systems	O
and	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
