3D visualization of software architectures

This article focuses on three-dimensional (3D) visualization of software architectures. Software architectures refers to the art and science of structuring very large programs and concerns the organization of a system in terms of its components, global control structures, physical distribution, evolution and more. The discipline of software architecture recently received a boost from new technological options for visualizing and analyzing software systems. These options are the result of the virtual reality modeling language (VRML), which is a de facto worldwide standard. There are several reasons why it is worthwhile to investigate and apply the emerging VRML technology to visualizing software designs. The main one is that VRML technology is available today and can help upgrade two-dimensional (2D) approaches to show design information. Moreover, 3D makes it possible to make a layout of the design objects more consistent with the object's intended role than can be done in a single plane. 3D visualization helps identify new design metaphors, fostering new ideas with respect to design principles