JIVE (Java Interactive software Visualization Environment) is a system for the visualization of Java coded algorithms and data structures. It supports the rapid development of interactive animations through the adoption of an object oriented approach. JIVE introduces several significant innovations such as a distributed architecture able to separate transparently the visualization activity from the underlying communication needed to support it. Therefore, it becomes possible to use JIVE in a variety of scenarios ranging from debugging algorithms to software visualization in Virtual Classrooms environments. Moreover, JIVE uses a zoomable user interface for representing algorithms: seamless visualization of both small and large data sets is achieved by using semantic zooming. Finally, JIVE comes with a collection of already animated data types including data structures provided by the Java standard library.