Eliot -- an Algorithm Animation Environment

Erkki Sutinen, Jorma Tarhio, Simo-Pekka Lahtinen, Antti-Pekka Tuovinen, Erkki Rautama, and Veijo Meisalo: Eliot -- an Algorithm Animation Environment. Report A-1997-4, Department of Computer Science, University of Helsinki, November 1997. 45+4 pages. <http://www.cs.helsinki.fi/TR/A-1997/4>

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Abstract

Eliot is an interactive animation environment, for visualizing algorithms written in the C programming language. Eliot provides a library of visual data types which are ordinary data types with a set of pre-defined visualizations. The user picks one visualization for each data object he wants to animate. Based on these selections, Eliot constructs an animation where the objects as well as their operations are animated. Examples of the use of Eliot is given and its implementation is described. Eliot has applications in algorithm design, visual debugging, and learning to program. The preliminary results of using Eliot in the data structures laboratory have been promising.

Index Terms

Categories and Subject Descriptors:
K.3.2, I.3.7, D.2.5

General Terms:

Additional Key Words and Phrases: animation, visualization, algorithm design, teaching of programming, debugging