Security News > 2021 > June > New Google Tool Helps Developers Visualize Dependencies of Open Source Projects
Google has launched a new experimental tool designed to help application developers visualize the dependencies of open source projects.
In an effort to help developers gain a better perspective into the packages their open-source projects rely on, Google has introduced Open Source Insights, an exploratory visualization site that offers a view of dependencies, in an organized and accessible way.
One of the main issues that Open Source Insights aims to address is related to staying up to date with the latest changes in the dependencies of employed third-party packages, their latest updates and new features, or the security holes they might bring along.
"Insights also helps you see the importance of your project by showing the projects that depend on it: its dependents. Even a small project is important if a large number of other projects depend on it, either directly or through transitive dependencies," Google explains.
The website scans millions of open source projects to gather information about packages and build dependency graphs that are constantly updated.
The new features Google introduced in Enhanced Safe Browsing ensure that Chrome users are better protected when downloading risky files or when installing new extensions from the Chrome Web Store, by informing users when the extension is not on a trusted list.