A system for algorithm animation

Abstract

A software environment is described which provides facilities at a variety of levels for “animating” algorithms: exposing properties of programs by displaying multiple dynamic views of the program and associated data structures. The system is operational on a network of graphics-based, personal workstations and has been used successfully in several applications for teaching and research in computer science and mathematics. In this paper, we outline the conceptual framework that we have developed for animating algorithms, describe the system that we have implemented, and give several examples drawn from the host of algorithms that we have animated.

Understanding Algorithms by Means of Visualized Path Testing

“…Because of the difficulty of this optimization problem, one must be satisfied with approximate solutions in practice. The following test sets of pairs (a, b) satisfy the coverage conditions presented above: (3,6), (4,5), (4, 6)} Path coverage:…”

“…Computer science educators have tried to solve the problem of learning an algorithm by the help of various visualization tools [4,6,8,11,17]. From a pedagogical perspective, one could divide them into two groups: the ones targeted for instruction and the ones for construction.…”

A framework for visualizing object-oriented systems

“…But very often interesting events are only indirectly reflected by algorithms. We refer to [5] for a detailed discussion of these problems.…”

Digital media: Bridges between data particles and artifacts

“…Researchers at Brown University developed BALSA, a real-time Algorithm Simulator and Animator, for applications in computer science education, the research in design and analysis of algorithms, and advanced debugging and systems programming. A set of representations has been developed to allow single stepping through a program, the synchronized display of subroutine calls, the construction of trees and graphs to illustrate searching techniques, and color encoded visualizations of sorting algorithms (Brown and Sedgewick 1984). Whereas BALSA simulates dynamic processes in dynamic displays, a Network Manager has been developed by Paul Haeberli at Silicon Graphics to give the user functional control over the system's hardware.…”