Visualize Java Servlet Inheritance with IntelliJ IDEA Diagrams

Recently I revisited the Servlet inheritance hierarchy and used IntelliJ IDEA’s diagram feature to obtain a clear visual representation.

01 View Inheritance Diagram

In the class’s tab, right‑click and choose Diagrams → Show (or the popup version) to open a diagram of the inheritance hierarchy.

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

Blue solid arrows indicate inheritance, while green dashed arrows indicate interface implementation.

02 Optimize the Diagram

2.1 Remove Unwanted Classes

Select classes you are not interested in (e.g., Object, Serializable) and press the Delete key to clean the diagram.

2.2 Show Class Details

Right‑click the diagram and choose Show Categories to expand fields, methods, constructors, etc. You can also use the toolbar.

To filter methods by visibility, select Change Visibility Level and choose the desired level.

Press Alt to activate a magnifier for a closer view.

2.3 Add Other Classes

Right‑click the diagram, choose Add Class to Diagram , and type the class name to include it in the graph.

If the added class has no direct relationship, it will appear without arrows.

2.4 Jump to Source Code

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

The Structure tool window can list all members of the class; clicking a member navigates to its code.

Conclusion

Using IntelliJ IDEA’s diagram, visibility, and structure features makes exploring class relationships and framework source code fast and intuitive.