Class browser
A class browser is a feature of an integrated development environment (IDE) that allows the programmer to browse, navigate, or visualize the structure of object-oriented programming code.
History
Most modern class browsers owe their origins to
Most succeeding object-oriented languages differed from Smalltalk in that they were
With the popularity of C++ starting in the late-1980s, modern IDEs added class browsers, at first to simply navigate class hierarchies, and later to aid in the creation of new classes. With the introduction of Java in the mid-1990s class browsers became an expected part of any graphic development environment.
In modern IDEs
All major development environments supply some manner of class browser, including
- Cincom Smalltalk
- CodeWarrior for Microsoft Windows, classic Mac OS, and embedded systems
- Dolphin Smalltalk
- Eclipse
- Embarcadero Delphi
- Embarcadero JBuilder
- WebSphere
- IntelliJ IDEA
- KDevelop
- Microsoft Visual Studio
- NetBeans
- Pharo Smalltalk
- RStudio
- Red Gate .NET Reflector
- Smalltalk MT
- Squeak Smalltalk
- Step Ahead Javelin [1]
- Strongtalk
- Visual Prolog
- Visual Smalltalk Enterprise
- Zeus for Windows IDE [2]
Modern class browsers fall into three general categories: the columnar browsers, the outline browsers, and the diagram browsers.
Columnar browsers
Continuing the Smalltalk tradition, columnar browsers display the class hierarchy from left to right in a series of columns. Often the rightmost column is reserved for the instance methods or variables of the leaf class.
Outline browsers
Systems with roots in Microsoft Windows tend to use an outline-form browser, often with colorful (if cryptic) icons to denote classes and their attributes.
Diagram browsers
In the early years of the 21st century class browsers began to morph into modeling tools, where programmers could not only visualize their class hierarchy as a diagram, but also add classes to their code by adding them to the diagram. Most of these visualization systems have been based on some form of the Unified Modeling Language (UML).
Refactoring class browsers
As development environments add
Logic browsers
An early add-on for Digitalk
Web-based versions
One variant of the
.See also
- List of integrated development environments
- The Source Navigator and sourcenav NG source code browser.