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Intermediate

35h

Mazes for Programmers

Gain insights into maze generation, applying software engineering to create diverse mazes in various shapes and dimensions. Discover inspiration to overcome programmer’s block and burnout.

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Overview

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Mazes are everywhere. From psychology experiments involving mice to robotics demonstrations to movies, video games, books, and puzzles, we all encounter mazes at some point or other in our lives. Working with mazes is like going on a voyage of discovery where you never know quite what you’ll find when you crest the next hill. In this course, you’re going to look at ideas to inspire you and learn to generate your own mazes. After taking this course, you’ll have taken your existing knowledge of software engineering and applied it to generating puzzles in a variety of shapes and sizes. You’ll make mazes out of squares, circles, triangles, hexagons, cylinders and cubes, spheres, and even Möbius strips. You’ll stretch them into other dimensions, squeeze them into arbitrary outlines, weave them, braid them, print them, and fold them. You will discover yourself brimming with ideas and hopefully find inspiration to tackle the programmer’s block, burnout, and gray days.

Mazes are everywhere. From psychology experiments involving mice to robotics demonstrations to movies, video games, books, and p...Show More

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

An understanding of the usefulness of mazes to generate interesting puzzles

Hands-on experience designing algorithms and programs to solve different puzzles

Familiarity with different types of mazes including grids and circular, weaving, and folding mazes

Hands-on experience creating different mazes and solving them using a variety of algorithms

Ability to traverse mazes, render mazes, and exploit well-known graph theoretic algorithms to solve underlying problems in mazes

An understanding of the usefulness of mazes to generate interesting puzzles

Content

120 Lessons14 Quizzes2 Challenges

Our First Random Mazes

8 Lessons

Learn how to use algorithms for creating diverse mazes, emphasizing practical coding in Ruby.

Who Should Take This Course and Why?

Getting Started

Preparing the Grid

The Binary Tree Algorithm

Digging Deeper into the Binary Tree Algorithm

The Sidewinder Algorithm

Quiz Yourself on Random Mazes Algorithms

Exercise: Upside-down Sidewinder

Automating and Displaying our Mazes

9 Lessons

Walk through automating maze grids, generating with algorithms, and rendering for visual representation.

Introducing Our Basic Grid

Implementing the Grid Class

Implementing the Binary Tree Algorithm

Displaying a Maze on the Console

Implementing the Sidewinder Algorithm

Rendering a Maze as an Image

Quiz Yourself on Automating and Displaying Mazes

Exercise: Interactive Fiction Display

Solution: Interactive Fiction Display

Solving Mazes

10 Lessons

Work your way through solving and visualizing mazes using Dijkstra's algorithm and enhanced coloring techniques.

Dijkstra's Algorithm

Implementing Dijkstra's Algorithm

Displaying the Dijkstra's Matrix

Finding the Shortest Path

Making Challenging Mazes

Coloring Our Mazes

Displaying Colored Mazes

Quiz Yourself on Dijkstra's Algorithm

Exercise: Coloring Cells by Shortest Distance

Solution: Coloring Cells by Shortest Distance

Avoiding Bias with Random Walks

8 Lessons

Grasp the fundamentals of unbiased maze generation using random walk algorithms and optimization techniques.

Understanding Biases

The Aldous-Broder Algorithm

Implementing the Aldous-Broder Algorithm

Wilson's Algorithm

Implementing Wilson's Algorithm

Quiz Yourself on Avoiding Bias with Random Walks

Exercise: Optimizing Aldous-Broder

Solution: Optimizing Aldous-Broder

Adding Constraints to Random Walks

8 Lessons

Map out maze generation via two algorithms, Hunt-and-Kill and Recursive Backtracker, balancing dead ends and paths.

Introduction to Random Walks (the Hunt-and-Kill Algorithm)

Implementing the Hunt-and-Kill algorithm

Counting Dead Ends

The Recursive Backtracker Algorithm

Implementing the Recursive Backtracker Algorithm

Quiz Yourself on Adding Constraints to Random Walks

Exercise: Recursive Recursive Backtracker

Solution: Recursive Recursive Backtracker

Fitting Mazes to Shapes

7 Lessons

Tackle maze masking techniques including class implementations, ASCII and image masks, and geometric mask exercises.

Quiz Yourself on Fitting Mazes to Shapes

Exercise: Generating Geometric Masks

Solution: Generating Geometric Masks

Going in Circles

8 Lessons

Build on polar grids to craft visually appealing, adaptive, and structured circular mazes.

Understanding Polar Grids

Drawing Polar Grids

Adaptively Subdividing the Grid

Implementing a Polar Grid

Testing and Tweaking

Quiz Yourself on Polar Grids

Exercise: Polar Grids with Uneven Row Heights

Solution: Polar Grids with Uneven Row Heights

Exploring Other Grids

9 Lessons

Get familiar with alternative grid types by implementing and displaying hex, triangle, and zeta mazes.

Implementing a Hex Grid

Displaying a Hex Grid

Making Hexagon (Sigma) Mazes

Implementing a Triangle Grid

Displaying a Triangle Grid

Making Triangle (Delta) Mazes

Quiz Yourself on Hexagon and Triangle Grids and Mazes

Exercise: Zeta Mazes

Solution: Zeta Mazes

Braiding and Weaving Our Mazes

11 Lessons

Get started with designing versatile mazes using braiding, weaving techniques, and cost-aware pathfinding.

Braiding Mazes

Cost vs. Distance

Implementing a Cost-Aware Dijkstra's Algorithm

Introducing Weaves and Insets

Getting Deep into Weaves and Insets

Generating Weave Mazes

Implementing the OverCell and UnderCell Class

Implementing the WeaveGrid Class

Quiz Yourself on Braiding and Weaving Mazes

Exercise: Sparse Mazes

Solution: Sparse Mazes

10.

Improving Our Weaving

7 Lessons

Master the steps to generate well-structured, predictable weave mazes using Kruskal's algorithm.

Introducing Kruskal's Algorithm

Implementing Randomized Kruskal’s Algorithm

Better Weaving with Kruskal

Implementing Better Weaving

Quiz Yourself on Kruskal's Algorithm

Exercise: Masking Weave Mazes

Solution: Masking Weave Mazes

11.

Growing With Prim's

7 Lessons

Grasp the fundamentals of Prim's algorithm and its maze generation applications.

Introducing Prim's Algorithm

Understanding the Simplified Version of Prim's Algorithm

Understanding the True Version of Prim's Algorithm

Understanding the Growing Tree Algorithm

Quiz Yourself on Prim's Algorithm

Exercise: Modified Prim's Algorithm

Solution: Modified Prim's Algorithm

12.

Combining, Dividing

8 Lessons

Dig deeper into advanced maze algorithms, including Eller's, Recursive Division, and a unique Aldous-Broder application.

Understanding Eller’s Algorithm

Implementing Eller's Algorithm

Recursive Division

Implementing Recursive Division

In-Depth Analysis of the Recursive Division Algorithm

Quiz Yourself on the Recursive Division and Eller's Algorithms

Exercise: Aldous-Broder as a Wall Adder

Solution: Aldous-Broder as a Wall Adder

13.

Extending Mazes into Higher Dimensions

8 Lessons

Tackle higher-dimensional maze creation, from transitioning 2D to 3D, visualizing, and implementing complex grid structures.

Understanding Dimensions

Introducing 3D Mazes

Implementing a Third Dimension

Displaying a 3D Maze

Representing Four Dimensions

Quiz Yourself on Extending Mazes into Higher Dimensions

Exercise: Shuffled 2D Mazes

Solution: Shuffled 2D Mazes

14.

Bending and Folding Our Mazes

10 Lessons

Build on various 3D maze structures like cylinders, Möbius strips, cubes, and spheres.

Cylinder Mazes

Möbius Mazes

Introducing Cube Mazes

More Methods for Cube Mazes

Displaying the Cube Grid

Introducing Sphere Mazes

Implementing POV-Ray on Sphere Mazes

Quiz Yourself on Bending and Folding Mazes

Exercise: Linking Worlds

Solution: Linking Worlds

15.

Conclusion

2 Lessons

Learn how to use maze algorithms and advanced maze generation techniques in Ruby.

Summary of Maze Algorithms

Final Word

Certificate of Completion

Showcase your accomplishment by sharing your certificate of completion.

Course Author:

The Pragmatic Programmers

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