Maze Solver
Maze Solver Pathfinding Visualizer is a personal project that implements Dijkstra's algorithm to find the optimal path in a maze. The web application allows users to generate random mazes, build mazes themselves, and visualize how the algorithm finds the shortest path. The website is built using React.js for the frontend and Dijkstra's algorithm for pathfinding.
Features of Maze Solver
- Generate random mazes
- Build maze manually by clicking the mouse or randomly by clicking generate walls button
- Visualize the algorithm finding the shortest path
- Change the speed of visualization
- Reset the maze to generate a new one
How the Algorithm Works
- Assign a distance value of 0 to the starting node and infinity (or a really large number) to all other nodes.
- Create an unvisited set of nodes and add all nodes to it.
- While the unvisited set is not empty, select the node with the shortest known distance as the current node.
- Visit all of the neighbors of the current node and calculate their tentative distances from the starting node by adding the distance from the current node to the neighbor's distance value.
- If the tentative distance is less than the neighbor's current distance value, update the neighbor's distance value to the tentative distance.
- Mark the current node as visited and remove it from the unvisited set.
- Repeat steps 3-6 until the destination node is visited or there are no more unvisited nodes.
- Once the destination node is visited, the shortest path from the starting node to the destination node can be obtained by backtracking from the destination node to the starting node using the minimum distance values.
- Return the shortest path.
Conclusion
Maze Solver Pathfinding Visualizer is an interactive web application that implements Dijkstra's algorithm for finding the optimal path in a maze. With features like generating random mazes, building mazes manually, and visualizing the algorithm finding the shortest path in real time, this project is an excellent tool for learning about pathfinding. The web application is built using React.js and the source code is available on GitHub. Overall, Maze Solver Pathfinding Visualizer is a fun and engaging way to learn about complex algorithms and pathfinding.
