Running the program

You can run the program directly using the exe file.

You can execute it from the GUI or use the command:

./VectricConvexHull

You can also build the exe using a standard C++ compiler. Using the GNU compiler, you can do:

g++ VectricConvexHull.cpp -o VectricConvexHull

What is the program

This is a console application written in C++ that lets you add/remove points to a plane, display the plane, and run an algorithm to generate the convex hull of the points.

It implements a console-like navigation system where you use commands to navigate, execute state changes, and display states.

Using the program

Whilst running the program, you can use viewMenu to list the commands. It provides brief descriptions of the commands. An excerpt of a version of the menu is written below:

viewMenu - prints this menu out

dimensions - edit the number of rows and columns

addPoints - add points to the plane

removePoints - remove points from the plane

clearPoints - clear all points from the plane

viewSpace - view the plane of points (no hull)

viewHull - view the convex hull generated

quit/q - quit the program

Algorithms and potential improvements

I used the gift wrapping algorithm to generate the convex hull. This is a relatively slow algorithm and I could improve the program by using a faster algorithm such as Andrew's monotone algorithm.

I could also extend it further using a GUI however that may be too far out of scope as it is designed as a console application. This would make adding and removing points much easier.

A fairly easy improvement is to let users enter execute commands regardless of casing.