Development and Using of a Virtual Laboratory to Study the Graph Algorithms for Bachelors of Software Engineering

Abstract

The paper presents an analysis of the importance of studying graph algorithms, the reasons for the need to implement this project and its subsequent use. The existing analogues analysis is carried out, due to which a list of advantages and disadvantages is formed and taken into account in developing the virtual laboratory. A web application is created that clearly illustrates the work of graph algorithms, such as Depth-First Search, Dijkstra’s Shortest Path, Floyd- Warshall, Kruskal Minimum Cost Spanning Tree Algorithm. A simple and user- friendly interface is developed and it is supported by all popular browsers. The software product is provided with user registration and authorization functions, chat communication, personal cabinet editing and viewing the statistics on web- application use. An additional condition is taken into account at the design stage, namely the flexibility of the architecture, which envisaged the possibility of easy expansion of an existing functionality. Virtual laboratory is used at Kryvyi Rih National University to training students of specialty 121 Software Engineering in the disciplines “Algorithms and Data Structures” and “Discrete Structures”.