OpenLabs handbook
Algorithms Visual Handbook
An algorithm is a system of parts. Watch the items move.
A stack is a box with things in it; a queue is a belt with a policy; a sort is a load changing places. Every model here runs, and the answer comes out of parts moving — never out of a script.
Roadmap
The order in which the concepts hold each other up. The interactive map is not drawn yet — drawing the path before walking it would be a promise, so the phases are listed plainly instead.
- 01 What holds the data Stack, queue, table: the boxes everything else is built on.
- 02 One pass at a time Evaluation and traversal, as items travelling between parts.
- 03 Sorting The same load, changing places — and what each swap costs.
- 04 Greedy Deciding with what is in front of you, and when that is enough.
- 05 Dynamic programming A table that remembers, so the same work is never done twice.
Articles and labs
Each phase pairs prose with a model. The article says what is true; the lab is the thing running, and you can break it.
01 What holds the data
Stack, queue, table: the boxes everything else is built on.
Articles
- A stack is a box ready
- FIFO, and what happens when it is full coming
Labs
- A queue, and what fills it coming
02 One pass at a time
Evaluation and traversal, as items travelling between parts.
Articles
- Postfix needs no parentheses coming
Labs
- A stack machine, running ready
03 Sorting
The same load, changing places — and what each swap costs.
Articles
- What a swap costs coming
Labs
- Sorting, swap by swap coming
04 Greedy
Deciding with what is in front of you, and when that is enough.
Articles
- When greedy is right coming
Labs
- Greedy, and the case it misses coming
05 Dynamic programming
A table that remembers, so the same work is never done twice.
Articles
- The table that remembers coming
Labs
- The table that remembers coming
Handbook assessment
The cumulative assessment has not been authored yet. Available labs and articles remain open for study.