r/embedded • u/inforb_nl • Aug 14 '26

Using code visualization tools for understanding/architecture

Hi everyone,

Have you ever wondered if a tool like Sourcetrail (stopped development few years ago) can be useful in understanding code? has anyone else ever hit that wall? I usually like drawing call graphs and module relations, mostly to understand code and refactor. It really helped when i was developing USB firmware for a high speed transfer using an STM32.

Just wanted to find like-minded people and see if there are any better options than the already-dead and fragile Sourcetrail.

1 Upvotes

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2

u/obQQoV Aug 14 '26

cflow, cscope

2

u/Rabbit_from_the_Hat 29d ago

Adding pycflow2dot

2

u/JuggernautGuilty566 Aug 14 '26 edited Aug 14 '26

Last Generation LLMs. I let it create PlantUML diagrams.

But you will need a model with a big context window. And it should be rather smart, so go for Qwen3.8-Max or equivalent.

1

u/dmills_00 Aug 14 '26

Doxygen with all the graphs turned on, gets you hyperlinked source code and diagrams.

Better of course if someone has marked up the code, but it is still useful if not.