. VISSOFT 2026

Note: Locations and times may be changed.

Program: Monday, Tuesday

September 14, Monday
09:00 - 09:30 Opening
Location: A59S
09:30 - 10:30 Keynote

Location: A59S
Session Chair: David Moreno-Lumbreras and Takashi Ishio
25 Years of Software Visualization Research: The Venues, Community, and Impacts
Jonathan I. Maletic
10:30 - 11:00 Coffee Break
11:00 - 12:30 Session 1: Understanding Software Structure and Evolution
Session Chair: Malte Hansen
Location: A59S
Dynamic Visualization of Java Stream Operations for Education using Marble Diagrams
Sebastian Stiegler and Markus Weninger
RESEARCH
An Encoding-Level Systematic Mapping of Code-City Visualizations
Manuel Stöger, Johann Grabner, Enrik Ndou, Mario Bernhart and Thomas Grechenig
RESEARCH
Depicting Software Evolution Using Spirals
Phillip Entin, Marco Raglianti and Michele Lanza
RESEARCH
Visualizing Object-Oriented Software Systems Through Procedurally Generated 3D Class Contours
Mattia Giannaccari, Marco Raglianti and Michele Lanza
RESEARCH
CodeSkyline: A Code-Map Visualization with Juxtaposed Views for Program Comprehension and Navigation
Steven Lamarr Reynolds-Ringer, Tobias Mertz and Jörn Kohlhammer
RESEARCH
12:30 - 14:00 Lunch Break
14:00 - 15:30 Session 2: Interactive Tools and Visual Exploration of Software
Session Chair: Markus Weninger
Location: A59S
IssueLens: A Visualization Tool for Historical Issue Tracking Data in GitLab-Based Software Projects
Manuel Stöger, Johann Grabner, Markus Lupinek, Mario Bernhart and Thomas Grechenig
TOOLS
Ritgard: T(r)opical Islands of Socio-Technical Artifacts on GitHub
Adam Štěpánek, Marco Raglianti, Jan Byška, Barbora Kozlíková and Michele Lanza
TOOLS
Git-Truck@Pluck – Contributor-Centric Coordinated Views for Hierarchical Visualization of Git Repository Evolution
Jonas Nim Røssum, Gustav Müller Christoffersen and Mircea Lungu
TOOLS
MosaiCode: Visualizing the Use and Evolution of Different Programming Languages in the Linux Kernel
Michael Weyandt, Michael Collard and Jonathan Maletic
CHALLENGE
Visualizing Linux Kernel Drivers as a CodeCity Inside a Dependency DOME
David Moreno-Lumbreras, Malte Hansen, Gregorio Robles, Jesús M. González-Barahona and Wilhelm Hasselbring
CHALLENGE
Visualization of Software Modules Using Monsters in Fantasy Role-Playing Games
Ryota Mizutani, Daisuke Taniguchi, Masateru Tsunoda and Keitaro Nakasai
POSTER
Demo/Poster Showcase 1
15:30 - 16:00 Coffee Break
16:00 - 17:30 Session 3: Exploring Software Evolution, Code, and Developer Activity
Session Chair: Shinpei Hayashi
Location: A59S
Holocular: A 3D Helix Visualization for Exploring Version-Controlled Repository Evolution
Manuel Stöger, Johann Grabner, Maximilian Zenz, Mario Bernhart and Thomas Grechenig
NIER
Coordinated Graph and Matrix Views for TLA+ State Space Analysis: A Design Study
Humphrey Obie, Chuong Ho and Frank Amadin
NIER
Pedagogical Execution Traces (PETs) for Educational Algorithm Visualization
Markus Weninger
NIER
Beyond Passive Visualization: Active Conflict Awareness in Git Repositories
Manuel Stöger, Johann Grabner, Thomas Mörbauer, Mario Bernhart and Thomas Grechenig
NIER
Toward Using Wave Function Collapse to Depict Software Systems
Simone Lesinigo, Marco Raglianti and Michele Lanza
NIER
From Metrics to Metaphors: Emotional Software Visualisation for Interdisciplinary Understanding
Frieder Loch, Mirko Stocker, Simon Ott and Sarah Hofer
NIER
A Graph-Based Source Code Multi-Diff Visualization
Mario Pilz, Manuel Stöger, Johann Grabner, Mario Bernhart and Thomas Grechenig
NIER
Visual Metaphors for Understanding the Impact of Code Changes on Software Evolution
Stefan-Octavian Custura, Andreea Vescan and Radu Gaceanu
NIER
Toward Visual Exploration of Agent Trajectories
Carmen Armenti, Hao Li, Marco Raglianti, Bram Adams and Michele Lanza
NIER
Agent ATO: Visualizing Agent Interaction Timelines from Logs
Takuto Kawamoto, Yoshiki Higo and Raula Gaikovina Kula
NIER
19:30 - 21:00 SCAM/VISSOFT Joint Dinner
Location: La Pampanini 1956, Via San Pasquale 8, Benevento
 SOCIAL EVENTS
September 15, Tuesday
09:30 - 10:30 Joint Keynote with SCAM

Location: Auditorium
Session Chair: David Melski
The Last Mile of Software Engineering Research: Lessons from Large Industrial Systems
Benoit Verhaeghe
10:30 - 11:00 Coffee Break
11:00 - 12:30 Session 4: Understanding and Navigating Complex Software Systems
Session Chair: Takashi Kobayashi
Location: A59S
Are Software Visualization Tools Actually Usable, or Just a Graveyard of Good Ideas? A Systematic Review and Replicability Assessment
Sergio R. Montes-León, Paul Leger, David Moreno-Lumbreras, Daniel San Martiin Santibáñez and Antonio J. Romero-Barrera
RESEARCH
FlowLens: Semantic Edge-Guided Functional Flow Visualization for Software Graphs
Sami M'Hamdi, Hamamache Kheddouci, Damien Charlemagne and Olivier Bonsignour
RESEARCH
A Chat Assistant for Software Exploration in a 3D Software Visualization
Malte Hansen, Karim Issa and Wilhelm Hasselbring
RESEARCH
Visualizing the Evolution of Data Access in Microservices
Maxime André, Massimiliano Di Penta and Anthony Cleve
RESEARCH
Seeing Is Not Complying: Intentional Architectural Erosion under Time Pressure despite Continuous Dependency Visualization
Babette Bækgaard, Lotte Juul Damgaard and Mircea Lungu
RESEARCH
D-Diff: An Interactive Environment for Adjusting Commit Boundaries Based on an Editable 3-way Diff
Daiki Muto, Takayoshi Ueno and Shinpei Hayashi
RESEARCH
12:30 - 14:00 Lunch Break
14:00 - 15:30 Session 5: Visualizing Software in Practice
Session Chair: Bonita Sharif
Location: A59S
Inside the Dependency DOME: An Immersive Dependency Ecosystem Visualization
Diego Lucas-Luis, Gregorio Robles, Jesús M. González-Barahona and David Moreno-Lumbreras
TOOLS
Interactive Runtime Visualization of Robotic Software Behavior with O3DE and ROS2
Héctor Martínez-Cabezas, David Moreno-Lumbreras, David Roldán-Álvarez and Jose M. Cañas-Plaza
TOOLS
Unravel: Visualizing Rug Pulls during the Evolution of GitHub Workflows
Edoardo Riggio and Cesare Pautasso
TOOLS
MetroFlow: Visualizing Bioinformatics Workflow Source Code as Interactive Metro-Maps
Lénora Buggenhoudt, George Marchment, Anne-Flore Cabouat, Frédéric Lemoine, Caroline Appert and Sarah Cohen-Boulakia
TOOLS
One Tool to See Them All: Circle Packing and Hierarchical Edge Bundling Meet Control Software
Lisa Sonnleithner, Andrea Franziska Zoitl, Oleksandr Kudriavchenko and Annabell Rößler
TOOLS
Analysis and Visualization of the Linux Kernel's Software Evolution Using the City Metaphor
Malte Hansen, Lukas Damerau, Moritz Bugla, David Moreno-Lumbreras and Wilhelm Hasselbring
CHALLENGE
Demo/Poster Showcase 2
15:30 - 16:00 Coffee Break
16:00 - 17:00 Session 6: Rethinking Software Visualization
Session Chair: David Moreno-Lumbreras and Takashi Ishio
Location: A59S
Navigating Software at Different Abstraction Levels: From Code City to Code
Pablo Sabater García, Alejandro Toribio, David Moreno, Sergio Montes, Diego Suárez and Gregorio Robles
VISIONS
Re-Imagining Software Visualization for Spec-Driven Development
Giovanni Rosa, Mario Linares-Vásquez and Gregorio Robles
VISIONS
Most Influential Paper Talk

 MIP
Towards Actionable Visualization: Ten Years Later, What Generative AI Changes and What It Cannot
Leonel Merino, Mohammad Ghafari and Oscar Nierstrasz
VISIONS
17:00 - 17:30 Town Hall, Closing and Awards
Location: A59S

25 Years of Software Visualization Research:
The Venues, Community, and Impacts Jonathan I. Maletic

Abstract. One of the first venues focused specifically on software visualization research occurred 25 years ago as a workshop with ICSE 2001 in Toronto, Canada. The following year, the first meeting of VISSOFT occurred in conjunction with ICPC 2002 in Paris, France. This keynote will trace the history of the software visualization venues and the context the brought them into existence. It will also discuss and highlight the emerging community of researcher who participated over the years. An overview of the accomplishments and impacts over the years will also be discussed and put into perspective with current topics in the field.

Bio. Jonathan I. Maletic, Ph.D. is Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Kent State University, Kent Ohio USA. He received the B.S. in Computer Science at The University of Michigan-Flint in 1985 and the Ph.D. in Computer Science, from Wayne State University in 1995. His research interests are centered on software engineering and evolution, with a focus on the comprehension, analysis, exploration, and manipulation of large-scale software systems. Prof. Maletic has authored over 170 refereed publications. Four of his publications have received Most Influential Paper Awards. He is regularly funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and has averaged approximately $150K USD annually in external funding over the past 20 years. Prof. Maletic has graduated 24 doctoral students, 21 of whom hold an academic position. Six of these individuals have been awarded US NSF funding and two of these have received NSF CAREER awards.


The Last Mile of Software Engineering Research: Lessons from Large Industrial Systems
Benoit Verhaeghe (Joint Keynote with SCAM)

Abstract. Every year, software engineering research produces innovative tools, visualizations, analyses, and more recently AI-powered assistants. Yet many of these innovations never make it into the daily work of developers.

Based on real-world experiences from introducing research outcomes into a large industrial software ecosystem, this keynote explores what happens after the paper is published: the difficult journey toward adoption. We will discuss successes, failures, unexpected barriers, and the lessons learned while deploying research-driven solutions in environments characterized by legacy systems, long product lifecycles, and strong operational constraints.

From model-driven engineering and software visualization to automated test generation and AI-assisted development, the talk highlights a simple observation: the most advanced solution is not always the one that succeeds. Impact comes when research becomes part of the developer's natural workflow. Ultimately, this keynote is an invitation to rethink how we measure success in software engineering research, by integrating real-world adoption.

Bio. PhD in Software Engineering bridging applied research and industrial delivery. I lead innovation initiatives around AI-assisted development, software modernization at scale (1M+ LOC legacy systems), and GreenIT measurement. I have deployed AI tools for production teams and Copilot / Claude Code dashboards for 200+ developers. Open-source maintainer of a VS Code extension with 4,000+ installs.