Database Reference
In-Depth Information
The basic principles of graph visualization
In order to visualize a graph structure, we need to take into account a number of
aspects. Like with any visualization, it is very easy to let the trees disappear into
the forest—in graphs, we often talk about the
hairball
effect. Connected structures
such as graphs can very easily become very unclear and opaque to the user;
ittakesacoupleofverywell-deinedmechanismstolayoutthegraphtotheuser
inanintelligibleway.Morespeciically,wetendtoindthreemainmechanisms
that are used by different technology solutions that we will treat later on. Let's go
through these mechanisms.
Graphs can quickly look like hairballs
Beforedoingso,Iwanttospeciicallythank my friend and colleague
Alistair Jones for his insightful talks that gave me many of the ideas
to learn more.
