OrionSort

A C++ sorting algorithm visualizer built with SDL3 and ImGui. The application animates different sorting techniques with optional audio feedback and flexible display modes.

Features

• Multiple algorithms: Bubble, Quick, Comb, Merge, Insertion, Selection, Radix LSD, Pigeon Hole, Gravity and Bogo sort.
• Several visual styles including bars, dots, circles and spirals.
• Adjustable array length and sorting speed.
• Cross-platform build via CMake.
• Debug Window for tracking variables

Prerequisites

This project requires a C++20 capable compiler and CMake 3.28 or newer. All third‑party libraries (SDL3, SDL_ttf and OpenAL) are included as git submodules, so ensure they are cloned with:

git clone --recursive <repo-url>
# or, if already cloned
git submodule update --init --recursive

Windows:

Install MSYS2 with either the mingw64-toolchain or ucrt64-toolchain environment (or use Visual Studio/MSVC).

Linux

Install build-essential and cmake:

• Ubuntu/Debian-based — sudo apt update && sudo apt install build-essential cmake
• Fedora/Red Hat-based — sudo dnf install gcc gcc-c++ make cmake
• Arch/Manjaro-based — sudo pacman -S base-devel cmake ninja
• openSUSE — sudo zypper install gcc gcc-c++ make cmake

MacOS

Use Brew: brew install cmake.

Building

cmake -S . -B build
cmake --build build --target install

The resulting binaries are placed in the dist/ directory.

Running

Run the generated Sorting executable. The GUI lets you select algorithms, tweak parameters and view real-time statistics.

Note for macOS users:
If you download the app without an Apple-signed build, macOS may quarantine it and show a "Damaged" warning.
To allow it to run, open Terminal and run:

sudo xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/OrionSort.app

This removes the quarantine flag so the app can launch normally.

Tests (Temporarily Unavailable)

Unit tests are provided with GoogleTest. From the build directory, execute:

ctest --output-on-failure

License

This project is licensed under the terms of the GNU GPLv3. See the LICENSE file for details.

Todo

• Full multithreading with thread safety
• FPS stabilization
• Finishing sort animation
• Real-time display along with apparent time.
• Fix obscure big involving freezing when starting a sort
• Streamline counting accesses, comparisions, swaps, etc...
• Improve options and selection screen
• Sort registry for easier addition of new algorithms
• Shorten GCC compile times (Linux & Windows) by atleast 25%
• At least 25 sorting algorithms
• Better audio output - more satisfying
• Fully high DPI compliant
• Android Port
• Emscripten Webassembly Port (Optional)
• OpenGL Backend (Optional)
• CPack Integration