Ask HN: Why aren't code diagram generating tools more common?

132 points

4 years ago

When I'm trying to get familiar with a new codebase it often takes me a long time to build a proper mental model of the whole system. Even with my own projects, it's easy to lose track of all the components and their interactions since they're constantly changing, and making hand-drawn diagrams is time consuming.

So my questions are:

- Why isn't diagram generation automated as part of the build process (UML or otherwise)?

- Why aren't code visualization tools more popular? The options out there seem outdated

- Would you want to use these tools? What would be your ideal tool?

Edit: looks like this is a duplicate question https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31569646

I can't delete it so feel free to discuss more

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