When I started working on algorithm visualizers at Programiz, I didn’t think much about making them interactive. But after tackling a few problems, I realized: algorithms are stories, and everyone learns better when they can see the story unfold.
🎬 Act I: The Stack That Stunned a Professor
The easy part was coding a rough version. The hard part? Polishing it until anyone could follow the story just by watching.
When we finally showed it to a university professor (a Programiz customer), his reaction was priceless.
“This makes debugging and teaching so much easier. You can pause, play, and see exactly what’s happening in every step.”
That’s when it hit me: visualization isn’t about code. It’s about clarity.
🎬 Act II: The Queue That Fooled My Brain
Queues are simple, right? FIFO. Done. No visualizer needed.
Wrong.
I made queue elements slide from right to left (like an array on wheels). Suddenly, everyone got it without me saying a word.
The tricky bit was dequeue. Animations don’t like disappearing acts. It was Stack Pop all over again. After some wrestling with it, I got the motion flowing.
When I demoed it, the professor pointed out something fascinating:
“This left-to-right flow actually matches how our brain tracks objects naturally.”
Turns out, even human cognition agreed with FIFO. 🧠
🎬 Act III: Knapsack — My First Big Heist
The infamous 0/1 Knapsack Problem. Students fear it. Developers avoid it.
I built a Knapsack Visualizer that doesn’t just solve it but lets you:
- Step through decision-making at each subproblem
- Watch dynamic programming build the table live
- Actually see optimal substructure and overlapping subproblems in action
This project taught me: building is easy, polishing is hard.
Animations, UI, logic, storytelling — I had to touch every piece.
But the final result? A tool I wish I had when I first learned DP.
🎬 Act IV: Coin Change in 3 Days
And then came my fastest build: the Coin Change Visualizer.
From scratch to production in just 3 working days.
This wasn’t speed for speed’s sake. It was proof that with the right process, clarity, and focus, even complex algorithms can be made intuitive.
Tested on all ages — from students to professors — it clicked instantly. No blank stares. No groans. Just “aha” moments.
🌍 Why This Matters
Algorithms don’t have to be intimidating walls of logic.
With the right design and engineering, they become stories people can watch, follow, and remember.
That’s what we’re building at Programiz: tools that lower barriers, make learning intuitive, and give anyone the confidence to say, “I understand this.”
For me personally, this journey wasn’t just engineering — it was proof of what happens when creativity and execution meet.
🚀 Closing Thoughts
If you’ve known me, maybe you didn’t expect me to go this deep into building algorithmic visualizers. Surprise 😉
If you didn’t know me before, now you do:
I build things that turn complexity into clarity.
I make algorithms human.
And I’m just getting started.
🔗 Try one of the visualizers here: KnapSack Visualizer
💬 I’d love to hear your thoughts:
- What algorithm should I tackle next?
- What’s the one concept you wish had a visualizer when you first learned it?
Top comments (0)