Developing an algorithm for a visualization prototype often involves the direct comparison of different development stages and design decisions, and even minor modifications may dramatically affect the results. While existing development tools provide visualizations for gaining general insight into performance and structural aspects of the source code, they neglect the central importance of result images unique to graphical algorithms. In this paper, we present a novel approach that enables visualization programmers to simultaneously explore the evolution of their algorithm during the development phase together with its corresponding visual outcomes by providing an automatically updating meta visualization. Our interactive system allows for the direct comparison of all development states on both the visual and the source code level, by providing easy to use navigation and comparison tools. The on-the-fly construction of difference images, source code differences, and a visual representation of the source code structure further enhance the user's insight into the states' interconnected changes over time. Our solution is accessible via a web-based interface that provides GPU-accelerated live execution of C++ and GLSL code, as well as supporting a domain-specific programming language for scientific visualization.

中文翻译：

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Vis-a-Vis：可视化源代码演化的视觉探索

为可视化原型开发算法通常涉及不同开发阶段和设计决策的直接比较，即使是很小的修改也可能会极大地影响结果。虽然现有的开发工具提供了可视化，以了解源代码的性能和结构方面的一般情况，但它们忽略了图形算法独有的结果图像的核心重要性。在本文中，我们提出了一种新颖的方法，通过提供自动更新的元可视化，使可视化程序员能够在开发阶段同时探索其算法的演变及其相应的视觉结果。我们的交互式系统允许在视觉和源代码级别直接比较所有开发状态，通过提供易于使用的导航和比较工具。差异图像的即时构建、源代码差异和源代码结构的可视化表示进一步增强了用户对状态随时间的相互关联变化的洞察力。我们的解决方案可通过基于 Web 的界面访问，该界面提供 GPU 加速的 C++ 和 GLSL 代码实时执行，并支持用于科学可视化的特定领域编程语言。