Effortless Creation of Algorithm Visualization

Karavirta V., Korhonen A. Nikander J. and Tenhunen P.

The idea of using visualization technology to enhance the
understanding of abstract concepts like data structures and
algorithms, has become widely accepted. Several attempts have been
made to introduce a system that levels out the burden of creating new
visualizations. However one of the main obstacles for fully taking
advantage of algorithm visualization seems to be the time and effort
required to design, integrate and maintain the visualizations
We have surveyed several systems in order to identify why
the creation of software visualization is such a laborious process.

Term effortless in the context of algorithm visualizatioin is a highly
subjective measure including many factors. We see two categories
characterizing the effortlessness of a given AV system: WYSIWYG (What
You See Is What You Get) and On-the-fly use.  Moreover we have used
taxonomy based on Price's taxonomy to categorize algorithm
visualization systems.

We have applied the taxonomy and our definition for the effortless
creation to four example systems (Animal, JAWAA, Jeliot and Matrix).
We have found out that none of the systems identify as specific,
high-effort or as generic, low-effort. The evidence gathered supports
that the more general a system is or more primitive graphical
vocabulary a system has the more effort is needed to create a
visualization with it. We have also found out that there is no
difference in the effort if smooth or step-wise animations are
created.