CONTRIBUTING.md

Contributing to Numerical Visualizations

Thank you for your interest in contributing! This guide will help you add new visualizations and extend the system.

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Table of Contents

1. Architecture Overview
2. Adding a New Visualization
3. Adding Presets
4. Display Options
5. Performance Considerations
6. Testing Guidelines

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Architecture Overview

Key Components

1. IVisualization - Interface all visualizations implement
2. VisualizationConfig - Base configuration class
3. VisualizationFactory - Creates visualization instances
4. VisualizationPresets - Predefined configurations
5. Canvas - Main UI coordinator

Configuration Hierarchy

VisualizationConfig (base)
├─ ShowAxes (universal)
├─ MaxIterations
└─ Tolerance

NewtonConfig : VisualizationConfig
└─ HueSpread

MandelbrotConfig : VisualizationConfig
├─ EscapeRadius
└─ Color mapping parameters

HailstoneConfig : VisualizationConfig
├─ ShowPointLabels (specific)
├─ ShowDots (specific)
└─ Path rendering parameters

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Adding a New Visualization

Follow these steps to add a new visualization type.

Step 1: Create Configuration Class

using System.ComponentModel;

public class MyVisualizationConfig : VisualizationConfig
{
    [Category("Algorithm")]
    [Description("Your algorithm parameter")]
    public int MyParameter { get; set; } = 100;
    
    [Category("Appearance")]
    [Description("Visual parameter")]
    public double MyVisualSetting { get; set; } = 1.0;
    
    public MyVisualizationConfig()
    {
        MaxIterations = 500;
        Tolerance = 1e-8;
        ShowAxes = false;
    }
}

Step 2: Implement IVisualization

public class MyVisualization : IVisualization
{
    private readonly MyVisualizationConfig _config;
    
    public string Name => "My Visualization";
    public string Description => "Description of what it visualizes";
    
    public MyVisualization(MyVisualizationConfig? config = null)
    {
        _config = config ?? new MyVisualizationConfig();
    }
    
    public VisualizationConfig GetConfig() => _config;
    
    public IVisualization WithConfig(VisualizationConfig config)
    {
        return new MyVisualization(config as MyVisualizationConfig);
    }
    
    public Bitmap Render(int width, int height, double xRange, double yRange)
    {
        var bitmap = new Bitmap(width, height);
        
        // For pixel-based rendering
        RenderingHelpers.RenderFast(bitmap, xRange, yRange, (x, y) =>
        {
            // Your computation
            return Color.FromArgb(r, g, b);
        });
        
        // Add axes if enabled
        if (_config.ShowAxes)
        {
            RenderingHelpers.DrawAxesOnBitmap(bitmap, xRange, yRange);
        }
        
        return bitmap;
    }
}

Step 3: Add to Factory

Update VisualizationFactory.cs to include your new type.

Step 4: Add Menu Items and Event Handlers

Add menu integration in Canvas.cs and Canvas.Designer.cs.

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Adding Presets

Presets focus on analytical perspectives, not display options.

Guidelines

1. Same starting conditions for comparable results
2. Different analytical views - Vary iterations, scale
3. Descriptive names - Indicate what the preset shows
4. 3-5 presets - Don't overwhelm users

Example

public static Dictionary<string, MyVisualizationConfig> MyVisualizationPresets = new()
{
    ["Default - Balanced View"] = new MyVisualizationConfig
    {
        MaxIterations = 500,
        ShowAxes = true
    },
    
    ["High Detail"] = new MyVisualizationConfig
    {
        MaxIterations = 2000,
        ShowAxes = true
    }
};

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Display Options

Universal Options

ShowAxes - Available for all visualizations

• Add to toolbar for live toggling
• Use cached overlay for fractals (performance)

Visualization-Specific Options

Add to derived configs when needed:

[Category("Display - MyVisualization Specific")]
[Description("Show custom feature")]
public bool ShowCustomFeature { get; set; } = true;

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Performance Considerations

Rendering Strategies

Pixel-Based: Use RenderingHelpers.RenderFast() with parallel computation

Vector-Based: Use Graphics API, integrate axes into rendering

Optimization Tips

1. Use LockBits for pixel manipulation
2. Parallelize with Parallel.For
3. Cache overlays for expensive computations
4. Dispose resources properly

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Testing Checklist

• Visualization renders correctly
• Presets load and apply
• Settings dialog works
• Toolbar buttons update correctly
• Axes toggle works
• No memory leaks

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Questions?

Check existing visualizations as examples or review the documentation files.

Thank you for contributing! 🎨✨