The data used for these visualizations is from the Java 8 API hierarchy.
These visualizations are actually using a subset of the hierarchy.
Scroll down to see 5 visualizations (including node, dendogram, icicle, treemap, and sunburst layouts) showcasing different ways to visualize the hierarchy.
Hover over each visualization to view the name.
In the traditional node diagram, you can easily find the root node since it's at the top of the diagram. This type of visualization makes it easy to see parent/child relationships within the Java 8 API Hierarchy. The straight edges also help in following the paths between nodes. However, due to the high density of the data, the straight edges are being bundled together, making them harder to be distinguished in some places. Each child node is derived starting from the root, which goes all the way to the leaves, showing the depth.
In this radial dendogram, the leaves are easy to identify in the hierarchy since they are the nodes on the outermost part of the circle--this way you can see the volume of nodes in the hierarchy. The root is also easily identifiable because it’s in the center of the dendrogram. The curved edges make it easier to see the parent/child relationships. Similar to the traditional dendogram, due to the high density of the data, the curved edges are being bundled together, making it harder distinguish them from each other.
This treemap showcases all of the different levels of the hierarchy. Rectangle sizes are easier for us to compare than circular sizes, which gives this layout an advantage. The color and size helps us see which nodes are larger or smaller, depending on how many of children they have.
This icicle layout uses another dimension, length, to encode more information about how many children each node has. This layout is similar to an actual file system since it allows us to find the children of parents since it still maintains an easy-to-follow hierarchal structure.
In the sunburst layout, you can easily see the depth of each node. The color and the placement of the nodes shows depth. The leaves are easier to see in this radial format because they are located on the outermost layer of the circle and since they’re located in the outer are, their depth is smaller. If you click on any of the outer sections, the sunbusrt with zoom in and display all of the children associated with the node. To zoom out, click the same parent node.
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