Recommendation

Has Potential

Link

http://www.cs.usfca.edu/galles/visualization/download.html

Delivery Method

Java Application

License

Unlicensed Sourcecode

Language

English

Author

David Galles

Institution

University of San Francisco

Project

Data Structure Visualization

RelationshipToProject

PartOfProject

Works

Yes

Description

Part of DSV integrated visualization suite. Swapping-bars paradigm with speed control and stepwise operation. Only random data sets. This mergesort visualization uses a bar-swapping paradigm with an auxiliary array to show the merging operations. The user can step through the visualization or run it as an animation, with a slider used to control the speed. The visualization shows actual values for the bars and array indices.

Evaluation

The visualization is not enough as a standalone explanation for the mergesort algorithm. There is no code associated with the visualization. The auxiliary array idea is not sufficient to explain how merging works. The user might miss having a history of actions. There might be some confusion as to how to reset and restart the presentation. This tool could possibly be used as a teaching aid to visualize an explanation, but it’s not recommended as an independent learning tool. Also it really needs to be accompanied by some explanation.

ActivityLevel

Animation; Step Control; Random Data

GoodFor

Lecture Aid

Screenshots

Videos

References

HowToUse

First Visited

2006-11-06

Last Visited

2008-07-01

Last Updated

2006-04-05

Topic

MergeSort

Community

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