VisualDSA

Interactive Binary Search Tree Operations and Traversal Visualizer: a Data Structures and Algorithms mini project in C++17 with Qt 6 Widgets, with a matching web version that runs in any modern browser.

VisualDSA runs real BST algorithms on a real C++ tree and replays every step they took: comparisons, the path from the root, deletion cases, the inorder successor, depth-first traversal order and the breadth-first queue. Every animation is a replay of events recorded while the algorithm ran. Nothing is drawn that the algorithm did not do.

Features

Operation	What you see
Insert	Each comparison, the branch taken, the empty slot where the key lands, then the new node growing in. Duplicates are rejected.
Delete	Search, identification of case 1 (leaf), case 2 (one child) or case 3 (two children), the walk to the inorder successor, unlinking and key replacement.
Search	Root-to-node path, a live 45 > 30 comparison badge, found (green) or the null pointer where the search ended (red).
Depth-first (DFS)	Inorder, preorder and postorder with recursion entry and output steps, order badges on nodes and a progressive output strip.
Breadth-first (BFS)	Level-order traversal driven by a real queue: each dequeue, output and enqueue is a step, waiting nodes get a dashed ring, and a QUEUE strip shows the queue front to back.

Also included:

• A pseudocode panel synchronized by stable line IDs.
• Step-by-step explanations generated from event data.
• Theoretical complexity shown separately from counters measured during the run.
• Playback controls: previous, play/pause, next, restart, 0.5×–4× speed, and a draggable timeline.
• Zoom, pan and fit-to-view on the canvas, plus click-to-inspect for nodes.
• An operation history that can be replayed.

Requirements

Tool	Version	Notes
C++ compiler	C++17	Tested with MSVC 19.44 (Visual Studio 2022 Build Tools). GCC 9+ and Clang 10+ should also work.
Qt	6.2 or newer (Widgets, Test)	Tested with Qt 6.8.3, msvc2022_64.
CMake	3.22 or newer
Generator	Ninja or Visual Studio 17 2022	Ninja ships with Visual Studio.

Build and run on Windows

Open the x64 Native Tools Command Prompt for VS 2022. This puts cl, cmake and ninja on PATH. Then run:

cd VisualDSA
cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=C:\Qt\6.8.3\msvc2022_64
cmake --build build
ctest --test-dir build --output-on-failure
build\bin\VisualDSA.exe

Replace C:\Qt\6.8.3\msvc2022_64 with your own Qt installation folder: the one that contains bin\qmake.exe.

You can use the Visual Studio generator instead of Ninja:

cmake -S . -B build -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -A x64 -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=C:\Qt\6.8.3\msvc2022_64
cmake --build build --config Release
ctest --test-dir build -C Release --output-on-failure
build\bin\Release\VisualDSA.exe

On Windows, a post-build step runs windeployqt, which copies the Qt DLLs next to VisualDSA.exe so it can be double-clicked. Turn this off with -DVISUALDSA_DEPLOY_QT=OFF.

Getting Qt 6 without the online installer

If you do not have Qt yet, the open-source aqtinstall tool can download the official binaries:

python -m pip install aqtinstall
python -m aqt install-qt windows desktop 6.8.3 win64_msvc2022_64 -O C:\Qt

Build and run on Linux

sudo apt install build-essential cmake ninja-build qt6-base-dev   # Ubuntu 22.04+
cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build
ctest --test-dir build --output-on-failure
./build/bin/VisualDSA

Web version

The web/ folder holds the same visualizer as a static website. It needs no build step and has no dependencies: plain HTML, CSS and JavaScript, drawn on an HTML canvas.

• Open it directly: double-click web/index.html.
• Or serve it locally: python -m http.server 8000 --directory web, then open http://localhost:8000.
• Host it: upload the contents of web/ to any static host (GitHub Pages, Netlify and so on).

The web version is a direct port of the C++ layers. It uses the same algorithms, the same recorded events and explanation text, the same pseudocode and complexity tables, and the same canvas layout and colours. It includes every desktop feature: all operations and traversals (including BFS), playback with speed and timeline, zoom/pan/fit, click-to-inspect, replayable history and the keyboard shortcuts. The layout adapts down to phone width.

Web file	Ported from
web/js/core.js	src/core/ (BinarySearchTree, Recorder, TreeSnapshot, TreeValidator)
web/js/pseudocode.js	src/core/Pseudocode.cpp
web/js/validation.js	src/utils/Validation.cpp
web/js/canvas.js	src/visualization/TreeLayout.cpp, TreeCanvas.cpp
web/js/animation.js	src/visualization/AnimationController.cpp
web/js/app.js, web/index.html, web/css/style.css	src/ui/ and resources/styles/theme.qss

The web core has its own test suite, ported from the Qt Test cases (Node.js 18 or newer):

node --test web/tests/core.test.js

CMake options

Option	Default	Meaning
VISUALDSA_BUILD_APP	ON	Build the GUI. Set it to OFF to build only the Qt-free core plus the core tests.
VISUALDSA_BUILD_TESTS	ON	Build the Qt Test suites and register them with CTest.
VISUALDSA_DEPLOY_QT	ON	Windows only: run windeployqt after building the app.
VISUALDSA_BUILD_TOOLS	OFF	Build capture_screenshots, which regenerates screenshots/ by driving the real window.

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