Back
Lanza_2023_IEEE_VISSOFT
Conference paper (in proceedings)

Understanding the NPM dependencies ecosystem of a project using virtual reality

  • 2023
Published in:
  • 2023 IEEE Working Conference on Software Visualization (VISSOFT). - 2023, p. 84-94
Virtual reality
Elevated city
Software visualization
Ecosystem
NPM dependencies
English Modern JavaScript development relies heavily on using Node Package Manager (NPM) modules. These modules are related by dependency relationships, possibly requiring dozens or hundreds of modules to build a complete JavaScript web application. Studying dependencies, in terms of their sustainability, vulnerability, size, defects, etc., is fundamental for the deployment and maintenance of JavaScript web applications. We use a 3D metaphor based on presenting dependencies as an “elevated city”, mapping both dependency relationships and characteristics of interest of each module. We developed a VR (virtual reality) scene representing the dependencies of several web applications using the elevated city metaphor, and exposed industrial experts to it to check its suitability. They explored a medium-sized project, with more than 200 dependencies, sharing their insights. The results highlight different aspects of our approach and how the combination of metrics helps experts to obtain insights from the ecosystem. The feedback shows the usefulness of the visualization to check and explore several aspects of the dependencies of an application, helping to identify problems related to maintainability, license usage, or vulnerabilities, and to design strategies to address them.
Collections
Language
  • English
Classification
Computer science and technology
License
License undefined
Open access status
green
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://n2t.net/ark:/12658/srd1329564
Statistics
Document views: 40 File downloads:
  • Lanza_2023_IEEE_VISSOFT.pdf: 94