VSF

A program to visualize sorting algorithms written in Lua

Installation

First, make sure you have all of the dependencies listed here. Next, just run go get -u github.com/vityavv/vsf to install it.

Usage

Basic Command Line Usage

Run vsf with the vsf command: vsf <lua file> [config file]

There are a few example lua files in the sorts directory and an example config file called defaults.json. The config file is optional.

Config File

The config file is a JSON file. You can see an example of this in the defaults.json file. Here are the keys and their meanings:

Key	Meaning	Default
list_length	The length of the list to be sorted	500
block_width	The width of each displayed block	2
block_height_mult	The amount each block's height is multiplied by when displayed*	1
shower	The shower to use. See below	rect
sleep	How long to sleep before showing something, in milliseconds	10
bg	An array of four values from 0-255, representing the RGBA color of the background	[0, 0, 0, 255]
fg	The foreground color (color of the blocks), in the same manner	[255, 255, 255, 255]
changed	The color that changed blocks are shown	[255, 0, 0, 255]
rainbow	Whether to use a rainbow or not. If true, bg, fg, and changed are ignored	false
vsync	Whether to use VSync or not	false
fpsfilter	How many frames to use when calculating FPS. If you're unsure, the default should be fine	30

*: block_height_mult is actually a float and not an int, but you should only use values less than one if you use shell or circle as your shower (see below)

Writing Sorts

Sorts are written in Lua. You must have a function called sort, which takes an array (table) as its argument. That function will be called with the random list at the start. You must then call the function show whenever you make a change in that array. The show function takes an array of the same length as the original. Check the sorts folder for examples.

Showers

Here is a list of showers and their respective special settings:

Shower	Notes
rect	The default shower. Refer to the descriptions of the keys above
point	Refer to the descriptions of the keys above
shell	Uses block_heigh_mult to determine the width of the shell; ignores block_width
circle	Same as shell, but for this mode it is recommended to set rainbow to true
hoops	Same as cricle, including the rainbow part
block	Same as rect, but you should use rainbow for this one too