During my first programming subject, Engineering Computation, in university (taken during 2016 Semester 1), the second assignment was focused on a path planning project using C programming language.

I found this project interesting because it actually seems like something which would be useful in real life, since we are constantly using path planning algorithms for GPS navigation and maximising efficiency by finding the shortest possible route.

For the actual implementation of the project, please click here. The github repository also goes over the example input and example output in more detail under the ‘read me’ section.

Example Input

#####.###.#####
#.....#.#.....#
#.###.#.#####.#
#.#...#.......#
#...#########.#
###.#.........#
#.#.#.#########
#.....#.......#
#.#####.#####.#
#.....#.......#
#####.#########

Example Output

Stage 4
=======
maze solution
##########00######  ##########
##        ..##  ##          ##
##  ######02##  ##########  ##
##  ##..04..##              ##
##    06##################  ##
######..##                  ##
##  ##08##  ##################
##..10..    ##--------------##
##12##########--##########--##
##..14..16..##--------------##
##########18##################

After this subject, I would eventually learn more about algorithms and data structures in the following semester (2016 Semester 2). Within the follow-up course, I learnt about the about graphs, and graph traversal algorithms such as Dijkstra’s Algorithm and how they are applied.

Upon reflecting on this experience, I would like to thank my professor, Alistair Moffat, who was always passionate about sharing his knowledge and expertise in C programming. His lectures and textbook were engaging and enjoyable, I would recommend checking out the textbook if you are a programmer and would like to learn more about C programming (entry-level).

I sincerely believe that a person’s learning experience is highly dependent on the teacher and learning environment. When people interact with passionate and knowledgeable staff members, they are usually more likely to pay attention and engage with the class. However, it is still up to each individual student to decide whether they would like to invest their personal time to learn and master the contents.