Road Network Pathfinder
Visualise Dijkstra & A* on real maps
An interactive pathfinding visualiser on real road networks via Mapbox GL JS, animating Dijkstra, A*, BFS and DFS (plus bidirectional variants) step by step.
Stack
The Goal
Make graph algorithms visible by running them on a real city's roads.
The Approach
Fetched road networks from Overpass through a Next.js proxy route.
Implemented Dijkstra, A*, BFS and DFS, then bidirectional versions.
Animated exploration with a requestAnimationFrame loop and log-scale speed slider.
The Result
Live tool where you can compare how each algorithm explores the map.
Challenge
Real road data from the Overpass API was blocked by CORS, and algorithm animation needed to run from slow step-throughs to near-instant. Solved with a Next.js API proxy route and a requestAnimationFrame loop with log-scale speed control.
Outcome
A from-scratch visualiser with four algorithms and bidirectional rewrites, running on real map data.