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Spotting the difference
Author(s) -
Lanna Marconi,
Amyot Daniel
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
software: practice and experience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.437
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1097-024X
pISSN - 0038-0644
DOI - 10.1002/spe.1013
Subject(s) - computer science , readability , usability , interface (matter) , space (punctuation) , human–computer interaction , software , user interface , granularity , world wide web , multimedia , information retrieval , programming language , operating system , bubble , maximum bubble pressure method
Source Code Management (SCM) is a valuable tool in software development projects, providing the ability to store and retrieve past versions of source files. Comparison tools offer the capability to compare different files or versions, highlighting their differences. Most such tools are built around a two‐pane interface, with files displayed side by side. Such interfaces are inefficient in the use of horizontal screen space, and ineffective since duplication makes text more difficult to read, leaving most of the comparison burden to the user. In this article we introduce an innovative metaphor for comparison interfaces. Based on a single‐pane interface, common text is displayed only once with differences intelligently combined into a single text, improving readability. To further improve usability, additional features were developed: difference classification ( additions , deletions , and modifications ); fine level of granularity; special features to display modifications ; and intelligent white space handling. A usability study conducted among 16 participants using real‐world samples demonstrated the interface adequacy: on average, participants were 60% faster in performing comparison tasks, while the quality of answers improved by almost 80% on our scale. After the experiment, the proposed interface was declared the favorite choice by all participants. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.