This visualizer was made out of curiousity. I wanted to know how several apps like Google Maps, or Apple Maps are able to find the shortest distance between two points. That's when I was interested in pathfinding algorithms. I then searched around for the most popular and common pathfinding algorithms that are used and came across A Star Path finding algorithm. I saw the logic behind and then wanted to proceed and build a visualizer for it.š¾
This app allows the user to enter 2 points on a 50x50 grid. It also allows the user to enter any obstacles between the two points. It then proceeds to find the shortest path between the two points. This is done through storing each node in a priority queue and comparing their heuristic function score. The node with the best score is kept.š ā ā