Algorithm Zoo

Every algorithm here is a JSON file. Add yours.

An interactive 3D zoo of classic algorithms and data structures, built with Three.js. Each exhibit shows an algorithm actually running, step by step — quicksort physically partitioning blocks, Dijkstra's frontier lighting up a graph, a BST growing insert by insert — with a museum placard explaining what you're watching.

The renderer is fully schema-driven: it knows nothing about any particular algorithm. It reads a JSON file describing nodes, edges, and a sequence of steps, and animates it. That means contributing a new algorithm is writing one JSON file — no Three.js, no JavaScript. See CONTRIBUTING.md.

git clone <this repo>
cd algorithm-zoo
npx serve            # or: python3 -m http.server 8000

Open the printed URL. Pick an exhibit from the index, press play. Space toggles play/pause, ←/→ step, Esc returns to the overview.

No build step, no dependencies to install — Three.js loads from a CDN via an import map.

Ten exhibits across five wings:

Four more wings — Dynamic Programming, String Algorithms, Compression, and the rest of every wing above — are standing empty with the lights dimmed. That's the invitation.

index.html                  the site
css/style.css
js/main.js                  zoo layout, camera, UI — never touches algorithm data
js/renderer.js              the schema-driven renderer (the actual product)
exhibits/
  manifest.json             list of exhibit files the site loads
  <wing>/<id>.json          one file per exhibit
schema/exhibit.schema.json  JSON Schema for editor autocomplete/validation
validate.js                 zero-dep validator — run before every PR (CI runs it too)
scripts/generate-seeds.js   how the seed exhibits were generated (run the real
                            algorithm, record its trace) — crib from this

1. The renderer never learns about algorithms. If an exhibit needs special-case code in renderer.js, the exhibit is wrong or the step vocabulary needs a (carefully reviewed) new verb.
2. Steps are generated, not hand-traced, wherever possible. scripts/generate-seeds.js runs each algorithm for real and records the trace, so the animation can't lie.
3. The validator is the gate. If node validate.js passes, the site can render your file. CI runs it on every PR.

MIT — see LICENSE.