Automatic Data Structures Visualization in IntelliJ IDEA
Debugging code that involves complex data structures poses significant challenges. It is often difficult to track the flow of data through the data structures while debugging the code, particularly for novice programmers learning algorithms and data structures. A potential approach to simplify this process is to visualize the relevant data structures along with their current states during debugging. However, identifying the specific portions of code that correspond to these data structures presents a unique challenge. To address this, we propose an approach that visualizes the runtime state of key data structures - such as arrays, linked lists, and trees - during debugging by leveraging a large language model (LLM) to facilitate and guide the visualization process. Our current implementation, developed as a plug-in for IntelliJ IDEA, supports the highlighting of array indices and enforces correct element sequencing in linked lists. With this integration of the visualization into the debugging workflow, we aim to improve code comprehension and reduce debugging time and effort. Future work includes expanding support to tree structures and migrating from a remote to an embedded LLM. We plan to evaluate the effectiveness of our approach through user studies with novice programmers, measuring debugging time, bug detection accuracy, and perceived cognitive load.
Fri 4 JulDisplayed time zone: Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna change
10:45 - 12:30 | |||
10:45 30mTalk | Automatic Data Structures Visualization in IntelliJ IDEA DEBT | ||
11:15 30mTalk | Countering Anti-Debugging Techniques: Enhancing Transparency in Nested Virtualization using HyperDbg DEBT | ||
11:45 30mTalk | Trace Debugger: Interactive Execution Trace Debugging for Java and Kotlin DEBT Dmitrii Artiukhov JetBrains, Bob Brockbernd JetBrains, Evgeniia Fedotova JetBrains Research, Nikita Koval JetBrains, Ivan Kylchik JetBrains, Evgenii Moiseenko JetBrains Research, Lev Serebryakov JetBrains, Evgeniy Zhelenskiy JetBrains, Maksim Zuev JetBrains | ||
12:15 15mDay closing | Closing by the workshop organizers DEBT |