Question

Explain in detail about bresenham''s line generating algorithm.

Answer 1

Bresenham's line algorithm is a line drawing algorithmthat determines the points of an n-dimensional rasterthat should be selected in order to form a close approximation to a straight line between two points. It is commonly used to draw line primitives in a bitmap image (e.g. on a computer screen), as it uses only integer addition, subtraction and bit shifting, all of which are very cheap operations in standard computer architectures. It is an incremental error algorithm. It is one of the earliest algorithms developed in the field of computer graphics. An extension to the original algorithm may be used for drawing circles.

While algorithms such as Wu's algorithm are also frequently used in modern computer graphics because they can support antialiasing, the speed and simplicity of Bresenham's line algorithm means that it is still important. The algorithm is used in hardware such as plotters and in the graphics chips of modern graphics cards. It can also be found in many software graphics libraries. Because the algorithm is very simple, it is often implemented in either the firmware or the graphics hardware of modern graphics cards.

The label "Bresenham" is used today for a family of algorithms extending or modifying Bresenham's original algorithm.