Requirements

• Java JDK (test with javac) — Java 8+ recommended (Java 17+ preferred).
• Python 3.8+ (with standard libraries; no external dependencies required unless your tester.py needs them).
• A terminal / command prompt.

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Project layout (expected)

project_root/
├── src/
│   ├── Astar.java
│   ├── Backtracking.java
│   ├── tester.py
│   ├── tests_bundleV1.json
│   └── tests_bundleV2.json
├── bin/                      # compiled class files will be placed here
│   ├── astar/
│   └── backtracking/
└── analysis/
    └── imported/
        ├── astar_import_summary.txt
        └── backtracking_import_summary.txt

Make sure the files listed above are placed inside the src/ folder before building or running.

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Build (compile Java)

Open a terminal and change directory to the src/ folder:

cd path/to/project_root/src

Compile the Java implementations (run these commands from inside src/):

# Compile A* implementation and place classes in bin/astar
javac -d bin/astar Astar.java

# Compile Backtracking implementation and place classes in bin/backtracking
javac -d bin/backtracking Backtracking.java

javac -d will create the output directories under bin/ if they do not already exist.

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Run tests (Python tester)

From the same src/ folder, run the tester script to evaluate either algorithm on either test bundle.

A* (both variants)

python tester.py --suite-in tests_bundleV1.json --algo astar
python tester.py --suite-in tests_bundleV2.json --algo astar

Backtracking (both variants)

python tester.py --suite-in tests_bundleV1.json --algo backtracking
python tester.py --suite-in tests_bundleV2.json --algo backtracking

Replace python with python3 if needed by your environment.

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Output location

After each run, the tester writes a summary file into:

analysis/imported/astar_import_summary.txt
analysis/imported/backtracking_import_summary.txt

Each summary contains aggregated statistics such as:

• total — number of test maps processed
• wins — number of successful runs (path found)
• losses — number of failed runs (no path found)
• runtime_mean, runtime_median, runtime_mode, runtime_std — runtime metrics (in seconds)

Just tell me which you prefer.