TY  - JOUR
TT  - IMPLEMENTING THE DISTRIBUTED BREADTH FIRST SEARCH ALGORITHM IN OMNET++ FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING PURPOSES
AU  - Galip, Esranur
AU  - Bulut, Hasan
PY  - 2016
DA  - September
JF  - The Eurasia Proceedings of Educational and Social Sciences
JO  - EPESS
PB  - ISRES Publishing
WT  - DergiPark
SN  - 2587-1730
SP  - 42
EP  - 46
VL  - 5
KW  - Distributed algorithms
KW  - graph algorithms
KW  - breadth first search algorithm
KW  - simulation for    education
KW  - omnet++
N2  - A distributed system is considered as a set ofcomputers communicating through the network and running collaboratively tocoordinate their activities and to share the resources of the system to achievea common goal. The coordination is achieved by exchanging messages, which carryinformation. Distributed algorithms play a crucial role in this coordination.However, teaching and learning distributed algorithms is difficult due to theinherent complexities of the distributed system. Since it is costly to constructa network of computers to run distributed algorithms to conduct research, teachand learn, many commercial and freely available open source simulation toolshave been developed for simulating network systems and hence, distributedsystems. These tools facilitate the development of distributed algorithms fordifferent environments. One of these tools is OMNET++, which is acomponent-based C++ simulation library and framework for building networksimulators and offers a graphical runtime environment.To facilitate theunderstanding of the working mechanism, a distributed system can be modeled asa graph. Each computer in the distributed system is represented by a vertex,called node and a link between two computers is represented by an edge. Hereby,many graph algorithms can be utilized within a distributed system. Forinstance, traversal of computers (nodes) in a distributed system is importantand used for solving many problems. Many algorithms provide traversal of nodes.In this study, we would like to demonstrate the use of a simulation tool forteaching and learning one of the fundamental distributed graph algorithmscalled Breadth First Search (BFS) algorithm. We use OMNET++ to visualize thesteps of constructing a BFS tree, where colors of edges are dynamically changedto indicate the inner workings of the algorithm. In addition, a learner canvisually trace the flow of the messages between nodes in the simulation.
CR  - Abdou, W., Abdallah, N., & Mosbah, M. (2014). ViSiDiA: A Java Framework for Designing, Simulating and Visualizing Distributed Algorithms. IEEE/ACM 18th International Symposium on Distributed Simulation and Real Time Applications (DS-RT), 43-46.
András Varga, R. H. (2008). An overview of the OMNeT++ simulation environment. In Proceedings of the 1st international conference on Simulation tools and techniques for communications, networks and systems & workshops, 60. ICST (Institute for Computer Sciences, Social-Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering.
Easley, D., & Kleinberg, J. (2010). Networks, Crowds, and Markets: Reasoning about a Highly Connected World. Cambridge University Press.
Fouh, E., Akbar, M., & Shaffer, C. A. (2012). The Role of Visualization in Computer Science Education. Computers in the Schools, 95-117.
O'Donnell, F. (2006). Simulation Frameworks for the Teaching and Learning of Distributed Algorithms. Thesis of Doctor of Philosophy. University of Dublin, Trinity College.
OMNET++. (2016). OMNeT++ Discrete Event Simulator. Retrieved March 15, 2016 from https://omnetpp.org/ 
Raynal, M. (2013). Distributed Algorithms for Message-Passing Systems. London: Springer.
Thomas Naps, S. C. (2003). Evaluating the educational impact of visualization. ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, 35(4), 124-136.
University of Eastern Finland. (2016). Jeliot3. Jeliot3. Retrieved March 15, 2016 from https://cs.joensuu.fi/jeliot/downloads/jeliot372.php 
Varga, A. (1999). Using the OMNeT++ Discrete Event Simulation System in Education. IEEE Transaction on Education, 42(4), 372.
UR  - https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/epess/issue//332628
L1  - https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/331788
ER  -