Sourcetrail

Even the best software engineers can waste huge amounts of time when analyzing unknown source code and modern editors do very little to help in this regard. Sourcetrail was created specifically for this purpose. The software combines a comfortable code viewer with an interactive graph visualization and it also throws a powerful search function into the mix, to help you figure what a given code does and how it works. You can navigate through large blocks of code and explore individual pieces separately on the fly. The best part is that you will be able to understand the code much faster, thanks to the excellent visual representation placed in front of you.

Sourcetrail is free for non-commercial use and it is available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. Downloading and installing the software shouldn't take more than a minute, even on older machines. Also, the software works straight out of the box, so you don't have to worry about any prerequisite tools or services.

The user interface is split right down the middle in two panes. When you load a project, the code itself will appear on the right side, while a visual representation of the code will show up on the left side. Navigating through the code can be done in several ways. You could just scroll through the code the old fashioned way and it can still be more comfortable, thanks to the chart, on the left side of the window, which shows you how everything is structured. Alternatively, you can make use of what Sourcetrail has to offer.

The graphical representation looks and feels just like a mind map. Clicking one of its nodes will take you further in the code's structure and reveal additional nodes, connected differently and it will also take you to the corresponding code segments, on the right side of the interface. Furthermore, hovering over classes, values or other elements, in the chart, will highlight its corresponding element in the code pane. Of course, this works in reverse as well. You can hover over an item in the code pane to see it highlighted in the chart.

The software provides browser-like navigation controls, the help you navigate between nodes, on different levels, faster and easier. You can also find options for showing callers and callees and for filtering them by level. Furthermore, if you are looking for something specific, you can just type its name in an address bar and hit a Search button to locate the item instantly. Creating bookmarks is another possibility and it can help you return to certain elements again and again at a moment's notice.

When it comes to analyzing source code, Sourcetrail makes everything much faster and easier through its smart functionality.