Data Structures & Algorithms is an open-source software that provides a graphical representation of tree data structures and sorting algorithms using OpenGL. It is licensed under GPL.
One of the key advantages of Data Structures & Algorithms is that it supports OpenGL, SDL, and SDL_ttf. This means that you can use the program without a GUI, but there are also Gtk+, Win32, and Cocoa GUIs available. In addition, the software can be compiled on Linux, Windows (using MinGW at least), and OS X. While it should compile without any problems on Linux, you may need to tune the makefiles for MinGW and OS X depending on your environment.
The program includes several different algorithms, and while the execution time for these algorithms may not be 100% comparable due to the length of animations used for each operation, they do offer a clear indication of the efficiency differences between different algorithms. Most of the algorithms are implemented according to Mark Allen Weiss' Data Structures & Algorithm Analysis in Java, which means that the software is based on well-established and tested algorithms.
One interesting feature of Data Structures & Algorithms is the optimized merge sort algorithm. This is a slightly modified version of the ordinary merge sort algorithm, which only needs half the extra memory compared to the original algorithm. This modification makes the merge sort algorithm perform better and faster. The quicksort algorithm in the program doesn't use any cutoff, for clarity.
Finally, the binary search tree (BST) with presorting works by first sorting the input elements. Afterwards, they are inserted with a recursive method, by adding the middle element of a subarray to the tree using completely ordinary methods. Then the left and right subarrays are added recursively, resulting in a balanced tree.
Overall, if you're looking for a software program to help you visualize different tree data structures and sorting algorithms, Data Structures & Algorithms is definitely worth considering. It's easy to use, flexible, and comes with a range of useful features. The only requirements are SDL and SDL_ttf.
Version 1.0: N/A