{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/32052"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/32052","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Algorithm Visualization: The State of the Field","abstract":"We report on the state of the field of algorithm visualization, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Computer science educators seem to find algorithm and data structure visualizations attractive for their classrooms. Educational research shows that some are effective while many are not. Clearly, then, visualizations are difficult to create and use right. There is little in the way of a supporting community, and many visualizations are downright poor. Topic distribution is heavily skewed towards simple concepts with advanced topics receiving little to no attention. We have cataloged nearly 400 visualizations available on the Internet. We have a wiki-based catalog which includes availability, platform, strengths and weaknesses, responsible personnel and institutions, and other data about each visualization. We have developed extraction and analysis tools to gather statistics about the corpus of visualizations. Based on analysis of this collection, we point out areas where improvements may be realized and suggest techniques for implementing such improvements. We pay particular attention to the free and open source software movement as a model which the visualization community may do well to emulate, from both a software engineering perspective and a community-building standpoint.","abstract_html":"We report on the state of the field of algorithm visualization, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Computer science educators seem to find algorithm and data structure visualizations attractive for their classrooms. Educational research shows that some are effective while many are not. Clearly, then, visualizations are difficult to create and use right. There is little in the way of a supporting community, and many visualizations are downright poor. Topic distribution is heavily skewed towards simple concepts with advanced topics receiving little to no attention. We have cataloged nearly 400 visualizations available on the Internet. We have a wiki-based catalog which includes availability, platform, strengths and weaknesses, responsible personnel and institutions, and other data about each visualization. We have developed extraction and analysis tools to gather statistics about the corpus of visualizations. Based on analysis of this collection, we point out areas where improvements may be realized and suggest techniques for implementing such improvements. We pay particular attention to the free and open source software movement as a model which the visualization community may do well to emulate, from both a software engineering perspective and a community-building standpoint.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Cooper, Matthew Lenell"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Computer Science","degree_department":"Computer Science","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Shaffer, Clifford A."],"committee_members":["Edwards, Stephen H.","Tilevich, Eli"],"year":2007,"date_issued":"2007-04-19","date_published":"2007-04-19","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:56:46Z","subjects":["algorithm visualization","algorithm animation","algoviz","algoviz wiki","community","open source","data structure visualization"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-04302007-110728"],"render_values":[{"text":"etd-04302007-110728","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/32052","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Shaffer, Clifford A."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Edwards, Stephen H.","Tilevich, Eli"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Computer Science"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Cooper, Matthew Lenell"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-03-14T20:34:38Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-03-14T20:34:38Z","2007-05-01"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2007-04-19"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Computer Science"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["algorithm visualization","algorithm animation","algoviz","algoviz wiki","community","open source","data structure visualization"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-04302007-110728"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/32052"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["We report on the state of the field of algorithm visualization, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Computer science educators seem to find algorithm and data structure visualizations attractive for their classrooms. Educational research shows that some are effective while many are not. Clearly, then, visualizations are difficult to create and use right. There is little in the way of a supporting community, and many visualizations are downright poor. Topic distribution is heavily skewed towards simple concepts with advanced topics receiving little to no attention. We have cataloged nearly 400 visualizations available on the Internet. We have a wiki-based catalog which includes availability, platform, strengths and weaknesses, responsible personnel and institutions, and other data about each visualization. We have developed extraction and analysis tools to gather statistics about the corpus of visualizations. Based on analysis of this collection, we point out areas where improvements may be realized and suggest techniques for implementing such improvements. We pay particular attention to the free and open source software movement as a model which the visualization community may do well to emulate, from both a software engineering perspective and a community-building standpoint."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Algorithm Visualization: The State of the Field"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Shaffer, Clifford A."],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Edwards, Stephen H.","Tilevich, Eli"],"dc:contributor.department":["Computer Science"],"dc:creator":["Cooper, Matthew Lenell"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-03-14T20:34:38Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-03-14T20:34:38Z","2007-05-01"],"dc:date.issued":["2007-04-19"],"dc:description.abstract":["We report on the state of the field of algorithm visualization, both quantitatively and qualitatively. 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