Experimental studies on graph drawing algorithms

Graph drawing plays an important role in the solution of many information v isualization problems. Most of the graph drawing algorithms are accompanied by a theoretical analysis of their characteristics, but only extensive exp erimentations can assess the practical performance of graph drawing algorit hms in real-life applications. In this paper, we describe the results of so me of the most popular experimental studies on graph drawing algorithms. Ea ch study presents an in-depth comparative analysis on a specific class of a lgorithms, namely, algorithms for orthogonal drawings, interactive algorith ms, algorithms for hierarchical drawings, and force-directed and randomized algorithms. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.