Sorting Visualizer

A sorting algorithm visualizer built in Cuis Smalltalk using Morphic.

What it does

Shows a real-time animation of several sorting algorithms working on a collection of numbers, drawn as vertical bars. Bars currently being compared or swapped are highlighted in red; the rest stay blue.

Structure

• SortingVisualizerWindow: the main window that holds the visualizer. Subclass of SystemWindow.
• SortingVisualizerMorph: handles drawing and animation logic. Subclass of BoxMorph.

Usage

Open a Workspace in Cuis and run:

SortingVisualizerWindow withBubbleSort: (1 to: 50) asOrderedCollection shuffled.
SortingVisualizerWindow withSelectionSort: (1 to: 50) asOrderedCollection shuffled.
SortingVisualizerWindow withInsertionSort: (1 to: 50) asOrderedCollection shuffled.
SortingVisualizerWindow withQuickSort: (1 to: 50) asOrderedCollection shuffled.
SortingVisualizerWindow withMergeSort: (1 to: 50) asOrderedCollection shuffled.
SortingVisualizerWindow withBogoSort: (1 to: 8) asOrderedCollection shuffled.

You can change the collection size or use any collection of numbers. Keep the collection small for Bogo Sort, it can take a very long time to finish on anything bigger than a handful of elements.

Algorithms

• Bubble Sort
• Selection Sort
• Insertion Sort
• Quick Sort
• Merge Sort
• Bogo Sort

Technical details

• Sorting runs on a separate process (fork) so it doesn't block the UI.
• step / stepTime keep the redraw loop running without needing user input.
• redrawNeeded tells Morphic to call drawOn: on the next cycle.
• Processor yield hands off control between swaps so the UI can redraw.

Requirements

• Cuis Smalltalk 6.x or later

References

Daniel Hirsch's video

Salar's video on C++ OOP