Visualizing and Optimizing Java Inheritance Diagrams in IntelliJ IDEA

Viewing Inheritance Diagrams

In the class tab, right‑click and choose Diagrams → Show (embedded) or Show … Popup (floating) to display the inheritance graph.

You can also right‑click a class in the project tree and select Diagrams for the same result.

The generated diagram shows inheritance with blue solid arrows and interface implementation with green dashed arrows.

Optimizing the Diagram

To focus on relevant classes, select unwanted nodes (e.g., Object , Serializable ) and press Delete . The cleaned‑up diagram appears as follows:

Inspecting Class Details

Right‑click the diagram and choose Show Categories to expand attributes, methods, constructors, etc., or use the toolbar for the same function.

You can filter members by visibility (e.g., show only protected and above) via Change Visibility Level .

Press Alt to activate a magnifier for better readability.

Adding Additional Classes

Select Add Class to Diagram , type the class name, and it will be inserted into the graph.

If the new class has no direct relationship, it appears without arrows.

Viewing Source Code

Double‑click a class in the diagram, then right‑click a method and choose Jump to Source** to open its implementation.

Use the Structure view to list all members of the class and navigate quickly.

Conclusion

By leveraging IntelliJ IDEA’s diagram, show‑categories, visibility filters, zoom, class‑addition, and structure tools, developers can efficiently explore inheritance hierarchies and source code of backend frameworks such as Servlets.