Graph Coloring

CS361: Advanced Data Structures and Algorithms

Algorithm Animation

August 1999

Quick instructions:

• when the animation window appears, select desired operations from the Algorithm menu. In this case, you will probably want to start by generating an array, then viewing one or more of the algorithms.
• When execution pauses inside of an algorithm, press the continue button to resume.

Things to Try:

• Generate a random graph.
  • Try coloring with the backtracking method (slow, guaranteed to find a solution if one exists).
  • Try coloring with the heuristic method (fast, but may miss a possible solution).
• Can you devise a graph that can be colored with the backtracking method but not via the heuristic?

This animation was prepared using the AlgAE animation framework.

AlgAE applets run under Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 (or later) and Netscape Communicator 4.05 (or later).