Gource: Git repository illustrator

Gource is one of the coolest git repo visualizers. In the face of gitg or gitk however, it does something very different. It animates the history of a git repo by assembling the files within it as a tree with the root directory as the center. As time progresses, you can see various actors move around making contributions.

Gource is more than just prettiness though; it can help you analyze your codebase to recognize the active and inactive bits of code. You can also make sense of your directory structure, the players, and in general patterns of development. If your project is open source, you can also evaluate how new contributors interact with your code.

I could go on, but the Gource is fairly self-descriptive. I’ve taken some screenshots from their website (do check it out) and pasted them below. Enjoy the fireworks.

(All images below are attributed to the Gource website)

Linux Kernel

Git

Papervision3D

Blender

A YouTube Video:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhbzEwxbCfI&w=560&h=315]

Plenty more available here