A tool for visualizing the usage of the input data for a method using alias analysis

In program comprehension, developers often spend a lot of time for the investigation of input/output during an execution of a method. In Java program, input for a method includes arguments, fields and class variables. To identify fields and class variables used by a method, developers must invetigate all methods which may be called from the method. In this paper, we propose a tool for visualizing input of a method including fields and class variables by investigating the method and methods which may be called from it. Using alias analysis, this tool shows field access using their access paths from variables of the specified method. We performed a controlled experiment in which participants perform program comprehension tasks. The result shows the time spent for an investigation with our tool is less than the time without the tool.