A system for algorithm animation tutorial and user manual

A program or an algorithm can be animated by a movie that graphically represents its dynamic execution. For instance, a memory allocator might be animated by lines that appear when memory is allocated and disappear when it is freed; a sort might be animated by a randomly scrambled sequence of lines being permuted into order. Such animations are useful for debugging programs, for developing new programs, and for communicating information about how programs work. This paper describes a basic system for algorithm animation: the output is crude, but the system is easy to use; novice users can animate a program in a couple of hours. The system currently produces movies on Teletype 5620 terminals and workstations that support the X window system, and also renders movies into ‘‘stills’’ that can be included in troff documents. This paper is a user manual and a tutorial introduction to algorithm animation using the system.