UPatrasGreedy
Recommendation |
Not Recommended |
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Link |
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Delivery Method |
Java Applet |
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License |
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Language |
English |
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Author |
Drossos Nikolaos; Papagelis Athanasios; Papaioannou Panagiotis |
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Institution |
University of Patras |
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Project |
UPatras Collection |
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Works |
Yes |
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Description |
This is a simple web page with a short description of greedy algorithms and a very basic weighted graph visualization that shows the difference between the path chosen by the greedy algorithm and the lowest cost path to the same destination. There are two buttons, one for each path. Clicking a button draws the a line following the given path. |
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Evaluation |
This is only a single page out of a website discussing a number of ways to approach complex problems (greedy algorithms, dynamic programming, heuristics, etc.), and it not really intended to be taken out of the context of the site. Rather than properly examining greedy algorithms, this just shows one example when it doesn't work. In truth, this could have been done better with a simple labeled graphic. The actual description of how a greedy algorithm works is minimal at best and the description of the specific example presented in the visualization is very poor. In order to motivate the problem, the metaphor of a city is used that has no relationship to the underlying graph and the weights given to it. To make matters worse, for the sake of the example, the greedy algorithm takes the path that leads directly to the "city center", which is not only the highest cost path (the point of the visualization), but also the highest cost edge out of the start node. It is not made clear why the algorithm picks that edge, especially as it doesn't continue to follow the shortest path. To make matters worse, the weight labels are all over the place and it is very hard to tell which edges they correspond to. In addition, the one label mentioned in the text doesn't seem to agree with the label in the diagram. Taken in all, it is not obvious what this would offer to a student. |
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Nothing |
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Screenshots |
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Videos |
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References |
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First Visited |
2007 |
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Last Visited |
2008-04-24 |
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Last Updated |
1997 |
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Topic |
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Community |
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Edit |
You may edit this entry if you have an account. |
