AlgoTutor

An Easy Way To Learn Complex Algorithms

Introduction

AlgoTutor is a web application that helps users to learn algorithms in the field of Data Structures and Artificial Intelligence in an easy way. Generally, algorithms in these two fields are little complex and difficult to understand. Hence, the main goal of this application is to make the learning process interesting and help users master algorithms. The AlgoTutor application focuses on Data Structures and Artificial intelligence fields mainly, because these two fields define the most important aspects of computer science domain that are responsible for creating the future technology. Therefore, having knowledge of basic algorithms in the field of Data Structures and Artificial Intelligence has become the basic necessity for Computer Scientists. Currently, the AlgoTutor application helps users to understand and learn A-Star Algorithm, which is the best search algorithm and can be used as a pathfinder in various applications, robotics, and games. One such application of A-Star Algorithm is solving Sliding Brick Puzzle.

Steps to run the application:

• Click on Clone or download green button
• Click on Download ZIP
• Extract the contents
• Select the index.html file and open it in any web browser.

Intended Users:

As the AlgoTutor application helps its users to learn algorithms in the field of Data Structures and AI, the intended users of the applications are mainly students. Also, professors, professionals working in the field of technology and tech enthusiasts can use this application to learn and master the algorithms.

Features:

To make the learning process easy and interesting, the application is divided into three main sections viz. Learn, Implement and Assess.

Learn A-Star Algorithm:

• Students can begin the learning process from Learn A-Star Section.
• This section explains the basic concept, steps, theory, and applications of A-Star algorithm using intuitive images, videos and easy to understand explanations.

Implement & Execute A-Star Algorithm:

• Once students understand the concepts of the A-Star Algorithm, they can use Implement Section to develop the A-Star algorithm using Java.
• Students can use the Java Code snippets provided in this section and develop their own code. As mentioned above, the AlgoTuor application helps to implement the A-Star Algorithm to solve Sliding Brick Puzzle.
• The execute section provides the final output of the code that gives the steps to solve the Sliding Brick Puzzle of various dimensions.

Take Assessment Quiz:

• Once students completely understand the theory and technicalities of the A-Star algorithm, they can take the assessment quiz to confirm the level of their understanding.
• Assessment Quiz section covers some basic questions about the algorithm. After answering all the questions and submitting the test, this section provides the quiz score and the correct answers with a brief description.

Future Work:

Currently, the AlgoTutor application helps users to understand only one algorithm. But, the same structure of the application can be extended to help users understand other algorithms in the field of Data Structures and AI. Also, the application does not store the learning progress for each user separately. This drawback can be overcome by creating login functionality and maintaining the user sessions. Even if the AlgoTutor application has these drawbacks, it successfully achieves its main goal of helping users to learn A-Star Algorithm of AI in an easy way.