The article “A comprehensive taxonomy of algorithm animation languages” was finally published in the Journal of Visual Languages & Computing in volume 21, issue 1 (doi). I’d like to thank my co-authors Lauri Malmi, Ari Korhonen, and Thomas Naps for their hard work in writing this article. The abstract of the article:

In this paper, we present a taxonomy of algorithm animation languages that augments Price’s well-known taxonomy of software visualization. Whereas Price’s taxonomy is directed to classifying features and characteristics of visualization systems, the new taxonomy focuses on evaluating current animation languages. The taxonomy can be used by algorithm visualization system designers as a tool to compare visualization system languages with each other as well as for designing and implementing new systems and language features. In addition, the taxonomy provides guidelines to the features that are needed for transferring animations between systems. This is an ongoing project that elaborates upon the work reported on in a briefer version of the taxonomy.

The main categories of the presented taxonomy are Visualization, Dynamics, User Interaction, and MetaLanguage:

• The category Visualization describes the features of the language used to create static visualizations for describing one state in the animation. In essence, it considers the variety of supported object types, that is, the building blocks used in the animation as well as ways to position and style the objects.
• The category Dynamics describes the level and versatility of animation effects available in the language and how the final animation can be customized through the language. These are the ways the visualizations can be changed when moving from state to state.
• The category User Interaction describes the type and level of interaction provided for the end-user of animations that can be specified using the language.
• The category MetaLanguage describes the support of features that are not directly related to algorithm animation but instead are useful in the animation creation process. These are features that are not directly visible to the end user.

The figure below shows the two highest levels of the taxonomy. The paper also includes an evaluation of many of the existing AA languages. So, go read it and let me know what you think!