Visualization software of the network exterior primal simplex algorithm for the minimum cost network flow problem

Abstract

The Minimum Cost Network Flow Problem (MCNFP) constitutes perhaps the most important of the research area of Network Optimization. Recently a new category of algorithms for the MCNFP have been developed. These algorithms belong to a special “exterior type” simplex category and they feature significant tree modifications. This paper presents a new didactic tool for the teaching of this type of algorithms. The proposed educational software can be used in courses like “Graph Theory” or “Combinatorial Optimization”. This tool has been implemented using the Java Programming language and it is platform independed. It constitutes a friendly application, for the instructor, as also for the novice student. Furthermore, its use is analytically shown through an illustrative example. Benefits and drawbacks are thoroughly described in order to support the significance of this visualization tool in computer-aided education and also possible future work is discussed.