1. A system to generate a layered visualization of a software system, the system comprising: a storage device to store a model of a software system, the model defining a plurality of entities and relationships among the entities; and a visualization tool coupled to the storage device, the visualization tool configured to: generate nodes representing entities of the software system model; assign generated nodes to layers in a set of ordered layers in accordance with rules associated with each ordered layer to thereby generate a layered layout of the software system; and render an interactive visualization of the layered layout to display to a user.