Algorithms Visualization Tool for Students and Lectures in Computer Science
This tool addresses the educational challenge of teaching complex algorithms in computer science courses, though it appears incremental as it builds on existing visualization concepts.
The paper presents a Java-based algorithms visualization tool designed to help computer science students and lecturers understand classical algorithms through graphical animations, formal descriptions, and textual explanations, with the key feature allowing users to animate their own algorithms.
The best way to understand complex data structures or algorithm is to see them in action. The present work presents a new tool, especially useful for students and lecturers in computer science. It is written in Java and developed at Bordeaux University of Sciences and Technology. Its purposes is to help students in understanding classical algorithms by illustrating them in different ways: graphical (animated), formal, and descriptive. We think that it can be useful to everyone interested in algorithms, in particular to students in computer science that want to beef up their readings and university lecturers in their major effort to enhance the data structures and algorithms course. The main new thing of this tool is the fact of making it possible to the user to animate their own algorithms.