ABSTRACT

Constructing geometric representations of graphs in a readable and efficient way is crucial for understanding the inherent properties of the structures in many applications. The desire to generate a layout of such representations by algorithms and not by hand meeting certain aesthetics has motivated the research area Graph Drawing. Examples of these aesthetics include minimizing the number of edge crossings, minimizing the number of edge bends, minimizing the display area of the graph, visualizing a common direction (flow) in the graph, maximizing the angular resolution at the vertices, and maximizing the display of symmetries. Certainly, two aesthetic criteria cannot be simultaneously optimized in general and it depends on the data which criterion should be preferably optimized. Graph Drawing Software relies on a variety of mathematical results in graph theory, topology, geometry, as well as computer science techniques mainly in the areas algorithms and data structures, software engineering and user interfaces.