Geometric Spanner Algorithms Visualizations

Visualizing Algorithms

The best way to understand complex data structures is to see them in action. We've developed interactive animations for a variety of data structures and algorithms. Our visualization tool is written in javascript using the HTML5 canvas element, and run in just about any modern browser -- including iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad, and even the web browser in the Kindle! (The frame rate is low enough in the Kindle that the visualizations aren't terribly useful, but the tree-based visualizations -- BSTs and AVL Trees -- seem to work well enough)

Check the Algorithms menu for all of the latest javascript implementations.

How to Use the Visualizations

This visualizations are meant to be fairly self- explainitory, though there are some subleties for advanced usage. Take a look at a typical visualization, for Binary Search Trees:

BST Screenshot

Algorithm Specific Controls

At the top of the screen (boxed in red in the above screenshot) are the algorithm specific controls -- these will change depending upon what algorithm you are visualizing. In this example, you could insert, delete, or find an element in the BST by entering text in the appropriate field and either pressing return or clicking the relevant button. The tree can be printed by clicking the print button. Once you give a command, the visualiztion will start, and can be controlled by the general animation controls at the bottom of the screen.

General Animation Controls