Algorithm Visualiser

Written in python by Thomas Gibson.

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Table of contents
1. Searching Algorithms
2. Sorting Algorithms
3. Adding a new Search Algorithm
4. Adding a new Sorting Algorithm
5. The Algorithm class
6. The DataModel class

Searching Algorithms

A full list of implmeneted Searching algorithms can be found here

Sorting Algorithms

A full list of implmeneted Sorting algorithms can be found here

Adding a new Search Algorithm

New search algorithms can be added if they meet these requirements:

Requirement:	Description:
Location	New algorithm files must be found in the algorithms/searching directory
File Name	New files must be named in the following format: algorithm_name_search.py. e.g. binary_search.py, linear_search.py
Class Implementation	The algorithm must be implemented as a class.
Class Name	An algorithm class must be named in the following format: AlgorithmNameSearch. e.g BinarySearch, LinearSearch
Inheritance	Each algorithm class must be a child of the Algorithm class. The Algorithm class must be imported (See imports.)
Constructor	Each new class must implement a constructor. (See Constructor)
DataModel helper functions	The DataModel class contains useful functions that will be needed (See DataModel)
Function Naming	The function which implements the algorithm must be named in the following format: algorithmNameSearch e.g. binarySearch and linearSearch
Function Implementation	Each new algorithm class must provide an implementation for the getName() method. (See Algorithm class)
Return value/s	Each algorithm doesn't strictly need to return anything. As a convention, 1 for success or -1 for failure should be returned

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Adding a new Sorting Algorithm

New sorting algorithms can be added if they meet these requirements:

Requirement:	Description:
Location	New algorithm files must be found in the algorithms/sorting directory
File Name	New files must be named in the following format: algorithm_name_sort.py. e.g. bubble_sort.py, merge_sort.py
Class Implementation	The algorithm must be implemented as a class.
Class Name	An algorithm class must be named in the following format: AlgorithmNameSort. e.g BubbleSort, MergeSort
Inheritance	Each algorithm class must be a child of the Algorithm class. The Algorithm class must be imported (See imports.)
Constructor	Each new class must implement a constructor. (See Constructor)
DataModel helper functions	The DataModel class contains useful functions that will be needed (See DataModel)
Function Naming	The function which implements the algorithm must be named in the following format: algorithmNameSort e.g. bubbleSort and mergeSort
Function Implementation	Each new algorithm class must provide an implementation for the getName() method. (See Algorithm class)
Return value/s	Each algorithm doesn't strictly need to return anything. As a convention, 1 for success or -1 for failure should be returned
Sorting in Ascending and Descending order	Code does not need to be written in an algorithms implementation to sort in ascending and descending order. A helper function in the Algorithm class returns True or False if two elements need to be swapped, another helper function can then be called to make this swap.

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Imports:

from ..algorithm import Algorithm 

Import statement needed to import Algorithm parent class

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Constructor

def __init__(self, dataModel):
        super().__init__(dataModel)

Constructor required (See DataModel)

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Algorithm class:

The algorithm class is a wrapper for some of the DataModel class functions.
These functions are needed to interact with the visualizer properly.
The methods in DataModel can still be called directly (not recommended).

Function	Parameters	Returns	Description:
getName()	None	A String, contains the name of the algorithm being implemented	An abstract method. Every subclass must provide an implementation.
getArray()	None	The array to be processed	Returns the array to be iterated over. (See DataModel).
getElement()	index (int) : index of the element to be retieved	The value at the specified index, or -1 if the index is out of bounds	Gets the value of the element at the specified index (See DataModel)
changeElement()	index (int) : index of the element to be changed value (int): The new value that the element is being replaced with	None	Changes the value at the specified index to the value passed (See DataModel)
swapElements()	sourceIdx (int) : index of an element to be swapped destIdx (int): index of an element to be swapped	none	Swaps the elements at the specified indexes. (See DataModel)
sortArray()	None	delay (bool): By default there is a small delay when the array is sorted. Setting this parameter to False removed this delay	Sorts the array and refreshes the screen to display it. (See DataModel).
shuffleArray()	None	delay (bool): By default there is a small delay when the array is shuffled. Setting this parameter to False removed this delay	Randomly shuffles the array and refreshes the screen to display it. (See DataModel).
changeBarColour()	index (int) : Position to have the colour changed. colour (str) : The new colour	None	Changes the colour of the bar at the specified index. (See DataModel).
swapbarColours()	sourceIdx (int) : index of a bar colour to be swapped destIdx (int): index of a bar colour to be swapped	none	Swaps the bar colours at the specified indexes. (See DataModel)
isSwapNeeded()	sourceIdx (int) : index of an element to be checked. destIdx (int): index of an element to be checked	A boolean value, True if the elements need to be swapped otherwise False is returned	Checks if the elements at the passed indexes need to be swapped. (Works for both sorting in descending and ascending order)
areElementsEqual()	sourceIdx (int) : index of an element to be checked. destIdx (int): index of an element to be checked	A boolean value, True if the elements at the specified index are true, else false	Compared the elements at the specified indexes and returns True if they are equal
getTarget()	None	The target to be searched for	Returns the target to be searched for. (See DataModel).
updateArrayOnScreen()	None	None	Refreshes the screen to display any changes to the array. (See DataModel).
delay()	None	None	Pauses the execution of the program using time.sleep().

DataModel class:

Useful functions, most are wrapped by the Algorithm class.
The functions can still be called directly, if an attribute containing the DataModel class is created (not recommended).

Function	Parameters	Returns	Description:
getArray()	None	The array to be processed	Returns the array to be iterated over
getElementAtIndex()	index (int) : index of the element to be retieved	The value at the specified index, or -1 if the index is out of bounds	Gets the value of the element at the specified index
changeElement()	index (int) : index of the element to be changed value (int): The new value that the element is being replaced with	None	Changes the value at the specified index to the value passed
swapElements()	sourceIndex (int) : index of an element to be swapped destinationIndex (int): index of an element to be swapped	none	Swaps the elements at the specified indexes.
updateArrayOnScreen()	None	None	Redraws the array on screen
sortArray()	None	None	Sorts the array and refreshes the screen to display it.
shuffleArray()	None	None	Randomly shuffles the array and refreshes the screen to display it.
setBarColour()	index (int) : Position to have the colour changed. colour (str) : The new colour	None	Changes the colour of the bar at the specified index
swapbarColours()	sourceIndex (int) : index of a bar colour to be swapped destinationIndex (int): index of a bar colour to be swapped	none	Swaps the bar colours at the specified indexes.
isAscending()	None	Returns True if the sorting direction is in ascending order. Returns False if the sorting direction is in descending order	Returns the boolean value corresponding to the direction of the sort
getTarget()	None	The target to be searched for	Returns the target to be searched for

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