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11 MULTIDIMENSIONAL EXPANSION OF THE ALGORYTHMICS ENVIRONMENT From 2016, new members have joined the AlgoRythmics research group, and the enlarged team decided to expand the project. Four new algorithmic dances were created (heap sort, linear and binary search, backtracking), and the animation module of the web application was supplemented with several new elements. 11.1 Expanding the AlgoRythmics collection After analysing the feedback we had received through the AlgoRythmics YouTube channel, three dimensions were identified by which the expansion took place. These followed the main concepts of the original idea: promoting CT by technologically and artistically enhanced multisensory tools. 11.1.1 From 1D view to 2D view The first four sorting algorithms included in the AlgoRythmics collection have quadratic time complexity (O(n’)): bubble sort, insertion sort, selection sort, and shell sort (for details, see Chapter 7). These sorting strategies could be illustrated by easily comprehensible linear visualizations (see figures 7.1-4). The change of the array containing the numbers is visible after each step, and the sorting process is performed in a linear manner. The next two algorithms were quick sort and merge sort. Their implementations are somewhat harder to visualize, and it could assume multiple views. Even I Programmer experts claimed that the quick sort choreography cannot be done using folk dances, and even with modern dances it would be a challenge to solve the visualization (I Programmer, 2011). These algorithms have O(n log n) average case time complexity and are considered more optimal than the first four in case of sorting random data. They apply the so-called “divide and conquer” paradigm, which is commonly visualized by a tree structure. Despite of this, these sorting strategies are perfectly understandable from the dance choreographies “applied” on linearly visualized arrays (see figures 7.5-6). After watching the AlgoRythmics quick sort choreography, the above referred J Programmer expert stated: “Yes I know I claimed that it would be impossible, or if possible the result would be a modern dance the like of which we have not seen, but.... they have done it. ...two hats are used to mark the progress of the scan.”
