mazeSolver

JAVA	SWING

mazeSolver is an application that allows to visualize the operation of various implemented pathfinding algorithms. User has the ability to draw a custom maze or generate one (mazes are randomly generated - backtrack algorithm).

How to use

By default, after starting the program, we get an empty grid. To start pathfinding operations, it is necessary to define the start and end nodes as well as the labyrinth walls. To expand the context menu, press the m button

Drawing & generating maze

There are several ways to create a maze in the application:

• Use left mouse button to place a wall.
• Use right mouse button to remove a wall.
• Press R key to randomly generate a maze.
• Press C key to clear the grid

Selecting start & end nodes:

To mark the start or end node simply hold one of the available buttons described in the context menu.

• Mouse + S key - set start node
• Mouse + E key - set end node

Running pathfinding algorithms

To run selected algorithm press Spacebar button. The default choosen one is Breadth First Search Algorithm. You can also use arrows to determine the speed of the current working algorithm. You can also stop searching by pressing Spacebar again.

List of available algorithms:

• Breadth First Search (BFS) (1)
• Depth First Search (DFS) (2)
• A* Algorithm (3)

Notifications:

There are few types of notifications in the application:

• When you try to run algorithm when the start or end node is not selected you will get an alert ("Please select start and end node").
• You will also get a message when the algorithm:
  • Found a solution ("Solution has been found")
  • Couldn't find a solution ("Solution could not be found")

Scalability:

You can determine the size of the grid by changing nodeSize value which is located in MazeSolver.java class.

Authors

Michał Kucharski Dawid Krakowczyk