The classic 2-approximation animated: take both endpoints of uncovered edges and get a provable ≤2×OPT guarantee for an NP-hard problem.
Tip: use samples, upload, copy, download, and send-to actions inside the workspace where available.
Vertex Cover Approximation Visualizer is a free, browser-based tool that helps you turn raw numbers into clear charts. The classic 2-approximation animated: take both endpoints of uncovered edges and get a provable ≤2×OPT guarantee for an NP-hard problem. It's built for speed and privacy: Everything runs locally in your browser — your data is never uploaded to a server. No sign-up, no installs, and no daily limits.
Visualize the dataset after it has been cleaned enough for reliable labels and numeric values.
Review the preview, copy or download the result, and keep everything local in your browser.
Bin Packing Visualizer: First-Fit Decreasing animated: items sorted large-to-small drop into the first bin that fits — with the famous 11/9·OPT+1 guarantee explained.
Open toolSAT & P vs NP Visualizer: Brute-force SAT over a truth table — verification instant, search exponential — with the Cook-Levin story of why SAT anchors all of NP.
Open toolBipartite Matching Visualizer: Maximum matching by augmenting paths animated — free partners taken directly, occupied ones displaced along chains, one extra match per augmentation.
Open tool1Vertex cover 2-approximation: repeatedly take ANY uncovered edge and add BOTH endpoints. Optimal must pick ≥1 of the two — so we're at most 2× optimal. (Exact vertex cover is NP-hard.)
while an uncovered edge (u,v) exists:add BOTH u and v to the covermark all their edges coveredOPT picks ≥1 per chosen edge → ≤ 2·OPT
Exact vertex cover is NP-hard; taking both endpoints of maximal-matching edges is provably within 2× of optimal — a guarantee, not a heuristic.